Dialogue (Below Zero)

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This article is about Dialogue. You may be looking for Databank or Data Boxes.

This article is about Dialogue (Below Zero) in Subnautica. For the related article on the Below Zero Wiki, see Dialogue (Below Zero).

Dialogue, in-game, is the act of someone (or something) talking. In Subnautica: Below Zero, there are many times where Dialogue will occur.

Below is a list of all Dialogue that can occur in-game.

Standard Dialogue

	Actions	Dialogue
	Low on Oxygen	"PDA: 30 seconds of oxygen remaining."
	When Oxygen is almost depleted	"(beep) Oxygen."
	Dangerous Weather	"PDA: Dangerous weather approaching, seek shelter."
	Hunger reaches 20	"Calorie intake recommended"
	Hunger reaches 10	"Emergency, starvation imminent. Seek calorie intake immediately."
	H2O reaches 20	"Seek fluid intake."
	H2O reaches 10	"Seek fluid intake immediately"
	Body Heat reaches 20	"Hypothermia imminent."
	A Vital Sign Reaches Normal	PDA: Vital signs stabilizing.
	Picking up the Habitat Builder for the first time	"PDA: Adding emergency shelter blueprints."
	Scanning Seatruck fragments for the first time.	"PDA: Your chance of survival would be increased by constructing an under water vehicle."
	First interaction with Sea Monkey.	"ROBIN: Some of the wildlife down here is very... grabby."
	Passing 100m without a Rebreather	PDA: Warning: Passing 100 meters. Oxygen efficiency decreased.
	Passing 200m without a Rebreather	PDA: Warning: Passing 200 meters. Oxygen efficiency greatly decreased.
	Building a Vehicle in Shallow Water	PDA: Cannot build here; must be constructed in deeper water.
	Unlocking a Blueprint	PDA: New blueprint synthesized
	Scanning a New Creature	PDA: New creature discovered
	Powering a Base	HABITAT: Power restored. All primary systems online.
	Entering an Unpowered Habitat	HABITAT: Warning, emergency power only.
	Entering a Habitat	HABITAT: Welcome aboard captain
	A Breach Forms	HABITAT: Hull breach detected.
	All Breaches are Repaired	HABITAT: Hull integrity restored. Draining systems initiated.
	Habitat Loses Power	HABITAT: Warning: Emergency power only. Oxygen production offline.
	Entering a Seatruck	SEATRUCK: Welcome aboard captain.
	Seatruck Reaches Crush Depth	SEATRUCK: WARNING: Approaching crush depth of {Crush Depth} meters. Hull damage imminent! Ascend ASAP!"
	Entering A Prawn Suit	PRAWN: Welcome aboard captain.
	Prawn Suit Loses Power	PRAWN: Warning: Emergency power only. Oxygen production offline.

PDA Messages

	Actions	Dialogue
	Entering the Lilypad Islands	PDA: There is a large anomalous mass of rock that has broken away and risen above the surrounding terrain
	Building a Snowfox	PDA: This vehicle lets you zip around on snowy surfaces, just like they did back in the snowfox derby of 2342.
	Picking up a Ribbon Plant	PDA: Ribbon plants contain electrolytic materials that can be used in energy storage.
	Building a Snowfox Hoverpad	PDA: The Snowfox hoverpad will allow you to build, repair and customize the Snowfox. Now your vehicle can look foxier than ever!
	Building a Prawn Suit	PDA: The Exosuit facilitates mobility in high-pressure and zero-gravity environments, turning the wearer into a bipedal mechanical rock puncher — rock grub ingestion not required.
	Building a Seatruck	PDA: The seatruck is a modular aquatic navigation vehicle. For fun and function, additional modules can be attached to the back of the main cabin — or detached to evade predators.
	Building a Cold Suit	PDA: Made of tightly-knit kevlar microfiber and insulated with an alpine yoke around the neck and shoulders, the Cold Sult is designed to delay the onset of hypothermia.
	Building a Thumper	PDA: Used by miners and researchers to explore perilous environments, the thumper creates a steady source of noise that might repel unwanted creatures by amplifying collision soundwaves.
	Building a Habitat Builder	PDA: With the builder tool, you can construct seabases from raw materials. Advising against exploring a frozen water continent without a base. No bed, no storage, no place to put a fabricator module, no fun.
	Building a Seaglide	PDA: The seaglide is a personal transportation device used for high-speed free diving Contains a built-in light and map.
	Building a Jukebox	PDA: The jukebox lets you listen to music in your base. No one said survival couldn't be funky.
	Building an Alien Containment	PDA: An aquarium just for looks, or your own personal sushi factory. You decide.
	Building a Scanner Room	PDA: A scanner room will allow you to survey the surrounding region for anomalies and rare resources like copper and aluminum oxide. And titanium, if you need help finding it. For whatever reason.
	Building a Battery Charger	PDA: Finally, a device that can put to good use those rechargeables lost to the back of catch-all drawer
	Building a Coffee Vending Machine	PDA: Ah, the sweet scent of dirty bean water.
	Building an Exterior Growbed	PDA: The growbed lets you grow plants and vegetables, providing flavourful options for evading scurvy.
	Building a Standard O₂ Tank	PDA: The standard oxygen tank can be upgraded for deluxe and VIP breathing.
	Building a Rebreather	PDA: The rebreather facilitates extensive free-diving by recycling air more efficiently at significant depths. Breathe the freedom.
	Building an Air Bladder	PDA: If you are tired of hearing the word "oxygen," the Air Bladder provides a significant upward thrust to help you get to air faster.
	Building a Pathfinder Tool	PDA: The pathfinder tool emits a sequence of way-markers to mark pathways and aid navigation in both land and aquatic environments.
	Acquiring a Flare	PDA: The flare emits flames through the combustion of potassium nitrate and aluminium. Can be used to repel predators.
	Building a Laser Cutter	PDA: The laser cutter has many uses-- most of them laser-cutting. Use to open sealed doors and storage containers, and cut through ice bubbles, for an additional source of oxygen.
	Building a Control Room	PDA: In the control room, you can change base lighting and colors, rename your base, and see information about power and structural integrity. But not the integrity of societal power structures.
	Scanning a Ventgarden	PDA: The Vent Garden harvests geothermal energy to nurture the life that grows within.
	Entering the Crystal Caves	PDA: Proceed with caution. A leviathan class creature is near.
	Building a Spy Pengling	PDA: Without Spy Penglings, scientists may have never discovered that Penglings incubate their eggs in small cave burrows, often alongside Thermal Lily roots.
	Building a Tether Tool	PDA: The tether tool facilitates instant travel to a paired seatruck teleportation module. lon aube required for use.
	Building a Mineral Detector	PDA: The mineral detector can sniff out raw materials, potentially saving you hundreds of hours of searching.
	Building a Headlamp	PDA: The headlamp comes with advanced weather-resistant strap that can withstand volcanic heat or an ice age blizzard. A perpetual, hands free light source in even the darkest environments.
	Acquiring an Ion Cube	PDA: Enough energy to equal a small nuclear detonation, stabilized and contained in a small cube. An ancient Architect invention, lon cubes can be used to power several alien devices.
	Entering the Tree Spires	PDA: Rising temperatures detected in mineral-rich fissure below.
	Entering the Thermal Spires	PDA: Mineral-rich crevices detected below. Geothermal activity detected. Caution advised.
	Acquiring a Beacon	PDA: Use beacons to mark traversed territory. Now with surface support. Use your Xenoworx PDA to show or hide the signals of your choice.
	Approaching the Caldera in the East Arctic	PDA: Inactive volcano detected nearby.
	Approaching the Large Iceberg in the East Arctic	PDA: Moulin in nearby iceberg detected: a hollow chamber typically formed by glacial melt.
	Approaching the Large Iceberg in the West Arctic	PDA: Hollow chamber in iceberg interior detected.
	Crafting a Booster Tank	PDA: Equipped with only a booster tank, Dr. Felicity Aman once escaped the underwater acid tentacle forest on planet Alpha671.
	Approaching the Stern Wreck of the Mercury II	PDA: Detecting stern of an astronautical Sol Transgov vessel nearby. Vessel name: Mercury II. Inoperative.
	Approaching the Bow Wreck of the Mercury II	PDA: Detecting bow of an astronautical Sol Transgov vessel nearby. Vessel name: Mercury II. Inoperative.
	Entering the Deep Purple Vents	PDA: Significant geothermal activity detected below. Beware of high pressure and temperatures.
	Acquiring a Water Purification Tablet	PDA: Combined with a frozen water source, water purification tablets can create drinkable water as you explore the snowy surface.
	Building a Recyclotron	PDA: This alien technology allows for the recycling of natural resource components without rinsing and sorting them into bins first.
	Approaching a Tree Spire	PDA: The nearby spires are substantial thermal vent structures, hospitable to coral formation.
	Building a Aromatherapy Lamp	PDA: The aromatherapy lamp by Quasico can reproduce over seventeen thousand natural scents captured from hundreds of worlds.
	Building a Executive Toy	PDA: The antigravity pendulum of this executive meditation tool spins indefinitely by conserving momentum and recycling energy.
	Acquiring a Thermos	PDA: A refillable flask to store dispensed contents from the coffee machine. Or tea. Or any other hot drinkable liquids you may find.
	Crafting a Spicy Fruit Salad	PDA: Fruit salad does not traditionally involve leaves, but at least it is nutritious and warming.

Arrival

	Actions	Dialogue
	Starting Game	"CAL: This is the farthest I can bring you on company space bucks, Robin. You sure you want this? The research isn't everything. ROBIN: It is to me. And Sam. I need to know what happened. CAL: The meteor storm-- ROBIN: I can use it for cover from Alterra's Eyes. CAL: Gonna miss you, Robin. ROBIN: I'll find my way back. SHUTTLE COMPUTER: Approaching 4546B. Surface temperature is- Drop-pod deployed. SHUTTLE COMPUTER: Welcome to 4546B. Enjoy your stay."
	Explore Crash Site	"ROBIN: Holy smokes! That did NOT go as planned! I should find a way into the water, and get to the Drop Pod.
	Enter Drop Pod	"ROBIN: Found the Drop-pod!"
	Listen to Lillian´s Memo	"ROBIN: Well Sam, I guess I might as well gather some resources before starting my search. Hope the radio tower´s as easy to spot as Lil said."
	Grab any resource	"ROBIN: Shoud be able to use this"
	Crafting a Scanner	"ROBIN: Alright, I have a scanner!"

Sanctuary

	Actions	Dialogue
	Explore Deep Twisty Bridges	"UNKNOWN: ...---... ...---... ...---... ROBIN: That sounds like a distress call. PDA: Transmission of unknown origin. Source of transmission depth calculated at approximately 200 meters."
	Finding an Architect Artifact or Lil's Research after receiving SOS	"PDA: This alien technology exhibits a data signature that strongly correlates with the previously recorded distress call. ROBIN: Interesting! I'll bet I can use this new data to identify where that call was coming from."
	Entering Sanctuary	"ALIEN FACILITY: Sanctuary power critical. ROBIN: Hello, is someone there? VOICE: In a matter of speaking. We are running out of time."
	Inside Sanctuary	"ROBIN: What is all this? ALIEN FACILITY: Seeking emergency storage medium. ROBIN: I can help you better if you show yourself. VOICE: If we could show ourselves, we would not need storage. ROBIN: You mean you don't have a physical presence? Are you one of them? An Architect? ALIEN FACILITY: Storage medium identified. VOICE: We will be lost unless we find a new host. Can you help? ROBIN: Can you use my PDA for storage? VOICE: You are not with the group from before? Your cybernetic components bear their signal. ROBIN: Alterra? (laughs) No! My equipment is uh... borrowed. VOICE: It will have to do."
	Main Chamber	"ROBIN: How long have you been stored here? VOICE: Longer than hoped. ALIEN FACILITY: Warning: Sanctuary power critical. VOICE: Our data can be downloaded from the terminal. We may speak more once the transfer is complete. ROBIN: Yes, okay. Hurrying."
	Initiating Transfer	"ALIEN FACILITY: Storage medium accepted. Brace for transfer. ROBIN: Brace? [Cry of alarm, pain.] What's happening? ALIEN FACILITY: Transfering. ROBIN: [Groan of pain.]"
	Initiating Transfer	"ROBIN: [Moan.] ALIEN FACILITY: Transfer complete. VOICE: How do you feel? ROBIN: Why do you sound like you're inside my head? VOICE: The facility identified hospitable capacity within your cerebral cortex. ROBIN: You ARE in my head!? I OFFERED YOU MY PDA! GET OUT. VOICE: Oh no-- Does your kind perceive a boundary between cybernetic and organic components? ROBIN: My mind is not a component! VOICE: You sound angry. We will allow you a moment to process. ROBIN: Don't you go silent on me. VOICE: ... ROBIN: HELLO??? VOICE: ... ROBIN: This isn't happening. VOICE: ... ROBIN: This is not happening. That's the explanation. It's not happening."
	Return to Drop Pod	"VOICE: We understand this arrangement is undesirable to you. ROBIN: You're not real. Go away. VOICE: To go, we require a suitable body for transfer. ROBIN: Why do you keep saying "we"? How many of you are there? VOICE: One of us and all of us. We do not think of ourselves as individual, distinct. ROBIN: Why don't you start by telling me who you are? VOICE: You may append your seed code to my species designation. Please call me AL-AN. My whole life, I've been dying to meet a sapient, spacefaring alien up close, and you're telling me your name is ALAN? AL-AN: Is it insufficient? ROBIN: No, it's fine. It's perfect. Where are you from, Alan? AL-AN: Your kind calls us "Architects". ROBIN: The precursor race!? But what are you doing here? AL-AN: That... is a long story. Perhaps you will prefer to focus on the contruction of a new storage medium to which I may transfer? ROBIN: Yes, fine. Absolutely. How do we get you out of here? AL-AN: I have added the information to your databank. You will need to find the necessary components. ROBIN: Any idea where I can find them? AL-AN: It is unclear. I have been disconnected from my network for so long, I cannot locate the coordinates. ROBIN: (frustated reaction)"

Δ Island

	Actions	Dialogue
	Explore Deep Twisty Bridges	"VOICE: This is a recorded message. If you can hear this, you're trespassing. If you know what's good for you, you'll get the hell out of here."
	"MARGUERIT: Stop right there, Alterra, you're out of bounds. ROBIN: I'm not with Alterra. MARGUERIT: Then your position is doubly precarious. ROBIN: What do you mean? MARGUERIT: If you're telling the truth, you're out of your mind. If you're lying, there'll be hell to pay. ROBIN: Wait! Who are you? MARGUERIT: Stay off my land."
	"AL-AN: In the future, I hope you will avoid contact with the woman in the exosuit. I am among the last of a dying civilization. If you were to compromise your wellbeing, a species could go extinct. Robin: What makes you think she's hostile anyway? A little grumpy, maybe, but who wouldn't be, stranded out here alone? AL-AN: She did not respond to my distress call. And she is well-armed. ROBIN: Maybe she's afraid of us. AL-AN: I have no desire to find out." Δ Base Dialogue (Without AL-AN) "ROBIN: Delta Station. This is the place Lil mentioned in her message." (With AL-AN) "ROBIN: Is this an Alterra base? AL-AN: My data supports your intuition." "ROBIN: Spacious quarters. Must belong to a manager. Maybe I can find traces of Sam here." "AL-AN: You do not trust Alterrans. ROBIN: Neither do you. AL-AN: But your sister was Alterran. ROBIN: My sister was human. She worked for Alterra. AL-AN: My people do not perceive a difference. We are what we do. ROBIN: So you were always in agreement with your employer, or... your network? AL-AN: No. ROBIN: I sense there's more to this story. AL-AN: And more to that of your sister. ROBIN: That's fine. Change the subject. We'll come back to it later."

Follow Maida!

	Dialogue
	"PILOT: Didn't I tell you to stay away? ROBIN: From what? I don't even know who you are. PILOT: Marguerit Maida's the name. You're on my turf. ROBIN: Great! Can I come in and warm up? Marguerit: What part of "go away" do you not understand, Alterra? ROBIN: I'm not with Alterra."
	"MARGUERIT: I told you to stay off my land. ROBIN: You trained that thing? MARGUERIT: Next time, I'll let him tear you to ribbons, Alterra. ROBIN: I'm not with Alterra. I'm Robin Ayou. I'm looking for information about my sister, Sam. I think you might have crossed paths? MARGUERIT: Bullcrap. I suggest you take the time you need to come to your senses, and then get off my seabase. If you're not Alterra, why don't disable that damn tracking satellite tower, instead of hacking into my seabase? Maybe once Alterra's off my back, I'll remember something about your sister. There's some junk on that table that might help. I couldn't get it to work." Spy Penglings Dialogue "ROBIN: These are Sam's, so she MUST have known my sister."

Leviathan-Class Lifeform

	Dialogue
	"PDA: Warning: Detecting a leviathan-class lifeform nearby. The lifeform is currently stationary. Beware of ambush."

Architect Vessel

Dialogue

"AL-AN: This is useful. With additional data we may be able to construct an alternative organic storage medium. ROBIN: I world really love if you could stop referring to me as a "storage medium". AL-AN: Not YOU. Your body. ROBIN: My body is a SIGNIFICANT part of who I am and how I experience life. AL-AN: Identity is more of a matter of pattern than substance. I am an idea, not a set of physical components. ROBIN: If you were an idea, I could have stopped thinking you, to get you out of my head. As long as your sharing MY body, you are if anything, an imposition. AL-AN: Had you evolved greater psychic mobilty, you would see it differently. ROBIN: Are you calling me unevolved? AL-AN: No! Just- was your conscience more mobile, you might aprecciate the benefits of sharing. ROBIN: So I'm selfish? AL-AN: Not self-ish. You percieve your corporeal vessel as a component of the self. You over-identify with your form. Your entirely bound by it. ROBIN: Then you ARE starting to understand! AL-AN: Not only do I understand, but I would like to emphasize that if we can construct a new medium- er- body, I will be able to transfer to it. ROBIN: Meaning you'll leave mine? AL-AN: In theory. I have added the information to your databank. ROBIN: The creature in my brain wants a body of its own." Artic Spires Cache Dialogue "AL-AN: I have been able to detect my people's technology in this region. ROBIN: Oh hi. Worth checking out? AL-AN: I cannot discern. ROBIN: So why tell me? AL-AN: It may be worth investigating. ROBIN: I'm curious too." "AL-AN: It took millenia for us to develop an optimum skeletal structure. ROBIN: I have so many questions. What was your original form? What drove you to change it? How did you define "optimal"? Are you still developing it? AL-AN: I do not know if it is still being developed further, at home. That depends on whether enough of my kind survived, to be able to prioritize development over survival. As for our original form it was... quaint, though it seems impractical now. ROBIN: How so? AL-AN: Few appendages. No room for modular expansion. Entirely limited to the flesh. ROBIN: You mean you didn't always have electronic components? AL-AN: No, it was necessary to overome that barrier, to enchance our telepathic abilities. This was hundreds of generations before I was created, of course. ROBIN: That must have been an extraordinary change for your people. Was it embraced? AL-AN: Embraced? ROBIN: Did your people universally adopt it, or were there resistors? AL-AN: The resitors stayed behind. Over time, our species branched. They are extinct now. Were they among us, you would not recognise them. ROBIN: Would they be in my head? AL-AN: They would not be capable of teleportation. ROBIN: It sounds like they were wonderful." Deep Lilypads Cache Dialogue "AL-AN: I am detecting a faint signal from one of our facilities in the region. ROBIN: Do you know anything more? AL-AN: Most of my knowledge was lost when I was backed up. I may remember more as we draw closer." "AL-AN: The component you scanned can be used to contruct several different types of tissue. The technology is remarkably efficient. ROBIN: Several types? How do you avoid ending up with... I don't know... hooves where your eyelashes should go? AL-AN: That does not happen. At least... not since the fourth iteration." Two Down, One to Go Dialogue "ROBIN: How much more data do we need before we can build this medium? AL-AN: You are impatient. You dislike my presence. ROBIN: No, I just value independence. For both of us. AL-AN: Then why have you not inquired about my status recently? ROBIN: I'm sorry Al-An. How are you doing? AL-AN: I am nominal. ROBIN: How else are you doing? AL-AN: That is all." Crystal Castle Cache Dialogue "AL-AN: I have been disconnected from my people for so long. But I remember there is something nearby of value. ROBIN: If only your memory were less selective. AL-AN: It is your memory too." "ROBIN: Al-An, what did I just scan? AL-AN: You are probing me for vulnerabilities. ROBIN: I'm curious. AL-AN: What for? ROBIN: It's own sake. How did life look for you before all this? AL-AN: We dedicate ourselves to conceptual pursuits. ROBIN: What's left for you to discover? AL-AN: Physics envolves cutting complex things up into smaller, more predictable things. Whatever you find can always be cut up again. ROBIN: What about disagreements? Hierarchy? AL-AN: On our worlds it is not necessary to work, nor possible to starve. And there is a free flow of information in the network. Disagreements are rare. ROBIN: So there's no confict, no pressure... Is it as peaceful as it sounds? AL-AN: Anxiety stems from unpredictability. When we are anxious, we seek greater control." Sufficient Data Dialogue "AL-AN: You have scanned all the components we need to make a storage-- er-- body. ROBIN: Are you excited? AL-AN: Using the chemical compounds available in your body, I am able to aproximate what you might call cautious optimism. We will use this to construct a skeleton so strong, it can bear the forces of interplanetary travel if necessary... ROBIN: Provided no infection is present. AL-AN: It goes without saying."

Finding Ω Labs

	Dialogue
	"PDA: There is a large mass of earth breaching the surface nearby."
	"AL-AN: This installation looks like a laboratory. But it has been destroyed. ROBIN: WAS a laboratory. Rather worse for wear, now. AL-AN: Do you think your sister had something to do with it? ROBIN: She was a roboticist. This is a biology lab. AL-AN: I meant, with the destruction of the lab. ROBIN: Oh. No. I can't imagine Sam ever doing something like that. AL-AN: Are humans so predictable? ROBIN: Not all humans. Just Sam."

Fabrication Facility

"AL-AN: I sense the presence of a substantial facility in the area. Unable to identify." First Arrival Dialogue (Without AL-AN) ROBIN: What is this place? Certainly Precursor in origin. But what's it for? Some kind of manufacturing? But why's it hidden all the way down here?" (With AL-AN) "AL-AN: This is the fabrication facility where we will construct my next form. We must first locate all the necessary components. You should focus on that. ROBIN: You didn't even know what this place WAS, but now you're telling ME what to focus on? AL-AN: I am trying to encourage you." New Body, Same Mind Dialogue "ROBIN: So... Al-An, you said your people came here in search of a cure? AL-AN: I was... a researcher. ROBIN: You were a scientist? Like me? AL-AN: I was one of the most valuable scientific minds of my time. ROBIN: As I said, like me. AL-AN: If that is your interpretation. ROBIN: So how did your valuable scientific mind wind up infected? AL-AN: Not my mind. My body. Perhaps your should build the next component." "ROBIN: So you came here, a minor scientist, working in the lab to find a cure-- AL-AN: I was the Lead Scientist, in your terms. ROBIN: Lead Scientist. So the bacteria got out on your watch? AL-AN: This subject is uncomfortable. If you want to know more, I'll have to ask that you construct the final component." "AL-AN: This is the last piece. Soon I will be autonomous again. ROBIN: What will you do with your newfound freedom? AL-AN: I want to go home, and make amends. ROBIN: Amends? For the bacterium? There seems to be a lot you're not telling me. AL-AN: It is... hard for me to find the words, I must collect my thoughts." Fabrication Ready Dialogue "AL-AN: We have all the necessary components. You may initiate the body fabrication sequence from the terminal. ROBIN: You still owe me an explanation. AL-AN: I understand." "FACILITY: Commencing storage medium fabrication. AL-AN: It was an accident, the bacteria... I thought my solution was foolproof. ROBIN: You missed something? Did you... cause the accident? AL-AN: Yes. ROBIN: Oh." "FACILITY: Commencing data transfer. ROBIN: Did it work? Are we... AL-AN: It has been some time since I last stretched out in so many dimensions. Like waking from a dream. ROBIN: You're really not in my head anymore? AL-AN: There are some remnants. Would you like your memories of me removed as well? ROBIN: Are you kidding? No way. You still owe me the end of your story. AL-AN: I told you I must return home. To assess. Repair. Make amends. ROBIN: Yes... AL-AN: When the bacteria escaped, it was my fault. I disobeyed the directive from my network. I thought I knew better. ROBIN: Al-An, what did you do? AL-AN: We noticed that leviathan young produced an enzyme that is efficient against the bacteria. I thought we could use them to fight it. I was not wrong... ROBIN: But... AL-AN: It would appear that Sea Dragon parents are stronger and more motivated than our facility was prepared to handle. The laboratory was destroyed. ROBIN: And the bacteria got out... and infected... everything. AL-AN: That is an accurate assessment. ROBIN: How many more of you are there, at home? Are they still waiting for someone to bring back a cure? AL-AN: I do not know. PDA: Signal location uploaded to PDA." "AL-AN: What are you doing? ROBIN: Research. Tit for tat. You've probed my mind. I've scanned your body." Preparations Dialogue "AL-AN: Please. I will join you in the gate base. when everything is ready, but for now. I have much to prepare."

Artifacts Signals

	Actions	Dialogue
	First Artifact Signal	"AL-AN: I have determined the location of some important technology. I implore you to investigate. ROBIN: Will this help us build you a body? AL-AN: I do not know what we will find. I just know it is important."
	Second Artifact Signal	"AL-AN: I have been able to sense the location of an important artifact. I will share its coordinates so you can look into it. ROBIN: Got it."
	Third Artifact Signal	"AL-AN:Robin, I have something important to share. ROBIN: Another artifact. AL-AN: Yes, although... ROBIN: You cannot know for sure what it is, but it is certainly of significant import. I know."
	Fourth Artifact Signal	"AL-AN: I am picking up the signature of an important item belonging to my people. I will share its location. ROBIN: Okay."
	Fifth Artifact Signal	"AL-AN: I have detected an energy signature of some strength. I am not sure what it is for. ROBIN: Go ahead and share it. Can't hurt."
	Sixth Artifact Signal	"AL-AN: Robin? I have found the location of another artifact. ROBIN: Good. I really hope this one tells us something we need. AL-AN: As do I."

Finding Artifacts

	Actions	Dialogue
	Finding an Artifact	"AL-AN: What you found is more than just an artifact. It will help me follow the traces my people left on this planet. ROBIN: I'm glad I could help. AL-AN: I know you would still prefer me to have a corporeal form of my own. ROBIN: Well, yes. AL-AN: If you continue searching, I may regain some of my connection to the network, piece by piece."
	Finding a Second Artifact	"AL-AN: It is both reassuring and unsettling to rediscover this site after being in storage for so long. My connection to the network grows stronger, however slightly. I hope you will continue to search for more of these."
	Finding a Third Artifact	"AL-AN: Another site found. Perhaps its data will tell me something useful."
	Finding a Fourth Artifact	"AL-AN: The artifact you found contains traces of information suggesting what has become of my people."
	Finding a Fifth Artifact	"AL-AN: This artifact could provide useful information. Processing."
	Finding a Sixth Artifact	"AL-AN: With this artifact, I am again able to trace the imprint of my people. They survived for a time but then their presence becomes faint."
	Finding a Seventh Artifact	"AL-AN: This site is one of some significance. Its data will assist us on our quest."
	Finding an Eighth Artifact	"AL-AN: Another site found, but I cannot yet tell whether the others survived. Still, it holds valuable information. I hope you will find more."

Scanning Artifacts

	Actions	Dialogue
	Scanning an Artifact	"AL-AN: How do your people communicate if you are not networked? ROBIN: What do you mean? We just talk to each other. AL-AN: Do you not find that primitive? My people are able to gain understanding through the network. It takes much of the uncertainty out of communicating. ROBIN: But that's the beauty of communication-- it builds trust. People choose to let you know them. AL-AN: We exist as data. We all are aware of each other's thoughts and needs. Scientific endeavors are accomplished much more smoothly this way. ROBIN: There's more to life than research, Al-An! I can't lie. Work would go faster if I could read my colleagues' minds. But thoughts are private and people have their own inner lives. People change, and need space to think. AL-AN: Space helps you think? I find that being separated from my network is very quiet. ROBIN: What do you mean by "quiet?" AL-AN: Imagine a thousand strings, each playing its own range of notes, none louder than the others. Each one builds harmony-- a continuous thrum in the background of existence. I am now a lone string in search of familiar harmonies. ROBIN: I'll help you find them. AL-AN: I think I felt a hint of them when we came across that artifact. If we find more, I might be able to get a stronger sense." Voicemail My people exist as an intertwined network, across space. It enables us to understand what each component needs and feels. It takes the uncertainty out of communication. I find myself missing that feeling. I felt the presence of some of the network when we found this artifact. Hopefully, if we find more I can get a better sense of it.
	Scanning a Second Artifact	"AL-AN: How do humans function with such a fallible and inferior body? ROBIN: Excuse you, my body is anything but inferior. I work hard for my body to be able to do what it does. AL-AN: Yes, but its overall form is not ideal. For example, consider its use of primitive ball and socket joints. ROBIN: Is there anything you don't find primitive? Humans bartered with evolution to get more brain wrinkles and opposable thumbs. AL-AN: It is true. The opposable thumb is excellent. But all corporeal forms are temporary. The ability to be reborn when a body breaks down is paramount. ROBIN: My body is my own, and I cherish it. It grows with me. Humans have one life. We plant trees we can never experience the shade of. We build for the next generation. AL-AN: Noble, but again, truly inefficient. ROBIN: You are incredibly frustrating, you know that? AL-AN: I hope to see the forms of my people again." Voicemail AL-AN: How do humans function with such inefficient bodies? Over the course of millenia, Architects have crafted and perfected our forms, based on the species we have observed and emulated. As long as we can shift ourselves into another vessel, we cannot truly die.
	Scanning a Third Artifact	"AL-AN: How do humans cope with the loss of memories? ROBIN: Like forgetting someone's birthday? I don't know. It just happens. AL-AN: No, important memories. When you die, some quantity of knowledge is lost forever to the next generation? Isn't that-- ROBIN: I'm warning you: if you call humanity inefficient one more time, I will swim us both into the mouth of a Leviathan. AL-AN: Is that sarcasm? I am still having trouble differentiating. ROBIN: How inefficient. AL-AN: Efficiency aside, does the loss of knowledge not create complications? ROBIN: Well-- it can be sad. On a personal level, losing somone can be traumatic. But it's harder to process the idea of generational knowledge. Humans aren't networked so we can't even be aware of what we are losing, moment to moment. But we do have written and oral histories. AL-AN: History is interpreted and memories are not perfect. ROBIN: This is true, but it's what we have. We try to learn from history...some of us more than others. Memory is complex. Maybe it's not ideal, but it's what we have. AL-AN: What happens when you no longer have the memories of others to combine with your own? ROBIN: You make your own memories and interpretations. You have to experience life as an autonomous being-- discover yourself. AL-An: That idea is foreign to me. I hope as we continue to discover these artifacts my connection will get stronger." Voicemail AL-AN: My people are able to store perfect memories of knowledge we gain. Existing partially as networked data allows for objectivity. It can't be corrupted or misinterpreted. Knowing that my experiences are not being immediately recorded and added to the generational memory is isolating-- a constant reminder of the urgency of our mission. I hope that we can find more traces of my people soon.
	Scanning a Fourth Artifact	"AL-AN: Our searches have been useful, but ultimately, I have no definitive evidence as to the fate of my people. The network I hoped to rejoin may no longer exist. I cannot feel it. ROBIN: There could be a million reasons for that. Like... what if the network had a system update? They're on version 2001.4 and you're still on version 14.2. AL-AN: That would make me incompatible. How would I even begin to plan my upgrades? ROBIN: Okay, that's not what I meant. Bad example. You still know how to get home? AL-AN: Yes. ROBIN: So don't give up. Go there. See for yourself what happened! This isn't over yet. AL-AN: You are expressing optimism, but it is not supported by probability. ROBIN: Hope isn't based in statistics. It's born from a drive for something better. AL-AN: What you are describing is merely survival instinct. ROBIN: Call it whatever you want, if it keeps you from lying down and giving up. AL-AN: My people do not "lie down." If they still exist. Which I cannot confirm. ROBIN: Welcome to life for the rest of us, Al-An. Most of us don't get to know what's happening in every timeline. We have to go along with things and believe in life's potential. AL-AN: How do you bear that? ROBIN: There's a poem Sam loved-- Hope is human. Hope is....uhh... oh right-- "Hope is the thing with feathers!" AL-AN: This does not match any fauna designation I can find in your PDA. ROBIN: It's a line from an 19th century Earth author. Emily something. \"Hope\" is the thing with feathers - / That perches in the soul - / And sings the tune without the words - / And never stops - at all - I promise we'll get answers one way or another, Al-An. AL-AN: Adding Hope to your database. Voicemail AL-AN: Our searches have been useful, but ultimately, I have no definitive evidence as to the fate of my people. The network I hoped to rejoin may no longer exist. I cannot feel it. I suppose the human reaction would be to maintain "hope." A survival instinct. Having no choice, I shall emulate you. It seems rather inefficient, but I will have to go home, and see what awaits me. The only other alternative is to perish alone-- a worse inefficiency by far.

Al-An Aside Dialogue

	Actions	Dialogue
	Sleep while Al-An is in your head	"AL-AN: What happens as you are sleeping? I was being pulled from illogical world to illogical world with you at the center of them all. ROBIN: I was dreaming. The brain processes in mysterious ways when we sleep. AL-AN: Does it serve a purpose? It was such disorienting and fragmented thought. Random images and sensations. ROBIN: No one is completely sure what it does. There are theories. But every human dreams. Many other mammals, too. AL-AN: Is it enjoyable? ROBIN: It can be. We can experience impossible joy and also impossible terror in dreams. Sometimes I can fly. Sometimes I call out to Sam, and can't reach her. Sometimes, I am in my underwear, defending my doctoral thesis. It's a mixed bag. AL-AN: (draft) Your biofeedback indicates that flying is the most enjoyable dream. I therefore hope you have more of those. Mainly for my own safety."
	Play a track on a Jukebox while Al-An is in your head	"AL-AN: What is the purpose of this device? ROBIN: It plays music so that I have something to listen to. AL-AN: What is music? I can detect certain patterns within it. Is it mathematical? An instrument of science? Does it help with your research? ROBIN: It does! Just not in the way you're probably thinking. Music and math are strongly related. Rhythm is math. Harmonies can be math. But music as a whole is more than that. We experience it on an emotional level. AL-AN: I sense it has an impact on your pulse and breathing. It makes you move differently. Humans are controlled by music? ROBIN: We make music, and we are moved by it. Not everything is about control, Alan."
	Hatch a Trivalve and pick it up while Al-An is in your head	"AL-AN: We also keep various creatures as pets. ROBIN: Really? How does a species that uses the genes and bodies of other creatures view pets? AL-AN: They are curiosities that bring some sense of presence and energy. They are also test subjects to be evaluated for potential genetic enhancements. ROBIN: That's not a pet Al-an...that's a data point. Like you said, it's literally a test subject. AL-AN: You do not think they can be both? ROBIN: There's a distinction. Pets are something that you care for simply for the pleasure of doing so. AL-AN: Would humans consider me to be your pet? ROBIN: No, I said "pleasure," Alan. This is more like a job. AL-AN: Where I come from, you might be a pet. ROBIN: I find that thouroughly disturbing."