Al-An

<infobox layout="stacked"> <title source="title"><default>Unknown</default></title> <image source="image"/> <label>Aliases</label> <label>Affiliation</label><default>Unknown</default> <label>Occupation</label> <label>Age</label> <label>Family</label> <label>Status</label><default>Unknown</default> <label>Voice Actor</label>

</infobox>

Would you like your memories of me removed as well?

― Al-An after his new body is crafted

Al-An, also referred to as Alan, is a member of the The Architects who is present as a character in Subnautica: Below Zero.

When Kharaa broke out, Al-An's mind was stored away, while his architect body was destroyed. Al-An appears to be unique in that his mind has remained conscious unlike other stored minds which are in a dormant state.

Al-An appears to be capable of broadcasting messages, as shown when he denies Robin access to Alien Research Site Zero. It is later revealed that Al-An broadcasts these warnings from within Sanctuary Zero.

Story

Al-An, like the rest of his species, had their consciousness uploaded to a Data Hub. Their physical body was likely disposed of afterwards, although for an unexplained reason, Al-An's mind remained intact, capable of thought and speech, unlike the other Architects encountered in The Crater.

Robin first hears from Al-An when she is denied access to Alien Research Site Zero. Following their first encounter, Robin soon finds Al-An himself in Sanctuary Zero, albeit as a mere computer core. He attempts to trap Robin within the facility forever, but is stopped when they come to an agreement and Al-An's mind is transferred from storage to Robin's mind.

Following the transfer, Robin will have to find and scan parts of Al-An's Vessel throughout the story, including a head, arms, legs, and power source, which can be found at the various Architect Caches laying around Sector Zero. The end goal of this will be to fabricate them a new body at the Fabricator Base. The reason for doing so is currently unknown, however, upon the completion of their new body, Al-An will act as an NPC.

Personality

Coming Soon

Relationships

Robin Goodall

Al-An and Robin seem to have a decent relationship, though Robin was displeased that Al-An forced himself into her head, though he soon regrets this and demands to be put back, though Robin sees past this and the two form a reluctant partnership. Al-An often talks down to Robin, such as demanding she build him a new vessel, or when he initially demanded to be put back into his data hub. Al-An does not appear to understand the concept that Robin and Sam Goodall are siblings either, calling Sam Robin's "master". Despite this, he does appear grateful that Robin lied to Sam about his existence, and goes as far to give her his name.

Sam Goodall

While Sam is unaware of Al-An's existence, Al-An does not seem to harbor any dislike towards her, though he initially confuses her for Robin's "master", which Robin corrects.

Serik Jevov

Coming Soon

Marguerit Maida

Coming Soon

Conversations with Robin

“	<poem> ALIEN VOICE: You lied to your master. ROBIN: Oh hi. Yeah, Alterra was listening, I covered our arse. And she's my sister, not my master. ALIEN VOICE: You do not trust your sister. ROBIN: Are you... Can you read my thoughts?! ALIEN VOICE: Do humans think? ROBIN: Listen, I am thrilled to meet you, and I would love to help you, but you need to get out of my head. ALIEN VOICE: If you will not return me, you must release me to another vessel. ROBIN: Love it. How? ALIEN VOICE: I am... uncertain. Your brain is restrictive. I will inform you when I process the data. ROBIN: I'll keep Alterra off our backs 'til then. ALIEN VOICE: You were more polite when we met. ROBIN: Yeah, process that. ALIEN VOICE: I will try.</poem>	”

“	<poem>ALIEN VOICE: Processing is complete. You will build me a new vessel. ROBIN: How? What kind of vessel? ALIEN VOICE: I have not granted you permissions for that information. ROBIN: I can't help you if you don't tell me. ALIEN VOICE: Which data formats do you accept? ROBIN: Words mostly. ALIEN VOICE: I have added the information to your databank. ROBIN: Thank you... Listen, I need something to call you. ALIEN VOICE: We do not use words that way. ROBIN: I used to have a pet baawaal. I called him Ketchup. Don't make me name you too. ALIEN VOICE: You may append my seed code to the species designation. You may call me Al-An. ROBIN: I waited my whole life to meet a spacefaring alien. You're telling me your name is Alan? AL-AN: Is it insufficient? ROBIN: No. No, Al-An, it's perfect. Let me see about this vessel.</poem>	”

Trivia

• The name "Al-An" or "Alan" is likely a play on the word "alien".
  • The name “Al-An” was a combination of Alterra’s assigned name for his species which was “Almanac” and what Al-An refers to as his “seed code” which is “An”. However the name Almanac has been changed to Architects so the future meaning of this name is currently unknown.
• It was previously stated by story writer Tom Jubert that the Architects would not be seen. Ironically, it would be Jubert who later unwittingly revealed the existence of Al-An on the developers’ public Trello board.
• If you rearrange the letters in Al-An you will get An-Al.