Respawning in PS2 lore?

[Sonny]

Hi all,
I've had a quick read through the official PS2 backstory on the main site. One thing that I noticed is that there is no discussion of respawning in the lore. I remember that in PS1 they went into a lot of detail to explain how people were effectively ending up as 'immortal' when going through the warpgates. But in the few stories we have here, it seems that the characters are genuinely afraid of dying (e.g. here).

So, can we assume that 'respawning' or 'immortality' is just an in-game convenience and is no longer connected to the backstory? I think that would be a shame, as I thought that respawning was a really cool feature of the PS1 backstory that made it kind of original within the sci-fi literature already saturated with similar stories.

Anyone else noticed this, or any other omissions from the PS2 backstory that you think should be put back in?

[Hamma]

I thought it was mentioned but I am not seeing it either.

[camycamera]

i think it is the same deal, i read it somewhere that each solider has it's genes cloned and then when they die they are cloned in the tubes instantly and then get back into the fight. i think it is still apart of the lore for PS2, and i think it is awesome that there is even lore for damn respawning.

[Sonny]

Thanks for your replies guys. Camycamera - do you remember where you saw that? Was it in the official backstory articles from the planetside2 main site or somewhere else?

I was thinking of writing a couple of short stories based on the PS2 universe, so I was hoping to fit into the backstory and obviously the 'immortality' of the soldiers through respawning plays a big part in that!

[vVRedOctoberVv]

The actual game has to have streamlined respawn, but I imagine the "in-fiction" functioning of the respawn being like I described in my story, Smoke and Mirrors. *FLUSH* :P

[camycamera]

Originally Posted by Sonny

Thanks for your replies guys. Camycamera - do you remember where you saw that? Was it in the official backstory articles from the planetside2 main site or somewhere else?

I was thinking of writing a couple of short stories based on the PS2 universe, so I was hoping to fit into the backstory and obviously the 'immortality' of the soldiers through respawning plays a big part in that!

here:
http://wiki.planetside-universe.com/ps/Nanites

[IronDragon]

I also think it's mentioned after you make your character and you're going into your first drop. The little briefing that you get before you're tossed into a random battle in your drop pod mentions that your DNA will be used to clone your body if you die.

[Carrionghoul]

It would make sense in a future pseudo-science way that the soldiers DNA is mapped and stored so that the nanites in the rebirthing matrix tube just reconstruct your body using that map and then your consciousness / neural pathways, etc are etched back into the new body somehow.

I'm also fascinated at how this constant death/ rebirth cycle would affect a soldiers psyche. Your in this "war is hell" situation and when you die they just bring you back and throw you back out into hell. After a few years that would have to seriously affect how a soldier views life and the world around him. What if he remembers every time he dies....or does he only remember as far back as his last neural mapping? Or is it like in John Scalzi's "Old Man's War" and they've figured out how to transfer actual consciousness via technology.

Fun stuff to think about.

[Artimus]

Rebirthing is marketed by Nanite Systems and I thought the lore took place before the discovery of Nanites from the Vanu. That would explain the sense of fear.

[Brogan]

It would be interesting to see a narrative about a soldier's first time dying, perhaps asking some senior officer what it is like, whose reply is far from comforting. Lol.

"What is it like?"
"Imagine the most horrifying gruesome thing possible and multiply it by ten."

Maybe also another guy is driven insane by it. The climax would be his death and reawakening.

[Sonny]

Thanks for your replies guys,
Carrionghoul, Brogan - I agree there is a lot of potential in exploring the effect of respawning on a soldier's mind. How about the story of a young, scared shitless soldier desperately avoiding death, then getting taken down the first time, and slowly but surely becoming addicted to the experience, taking crazy risks to experience death once again...

Then imagine him a few years later. He has died hundreds, perhaps thousands of times. Life or death mean nothing to him anymore, all that matters is victory. He is a cold-hearted murderer - executing prisoners and civilians without any moral concern. He fights for nothing else but to reach 'retirement' at 15,000 deaths.

Finally, fifteen years later. His body is still intact but his mind is irreperably damaged. He is unable to tell between life and death, day and night. The Terran minders come for him to ship him off for "retirement". But with his final glimmer of consciousness, he loads up the C4 before the guards get to his room and makes his way to the central genetic bank - holding the genetic code of all of the Terran soldiers. He tries to destroy the genetic bank in order to bring an end to respawning and the war that has destroyed him and the lives of hundreds and thousands of innocents across Auraxis.

Or how about a soldier who is respawned so many times that he starts to believe he is a god. Him and his acolytes escape into the hills, maybe to live in amongst the caves in the cliffs of Indar. They become bandits; ambushing convoys that pass through the narrow passes of South East Indar.

Sonny

[Brogan]

Another interesting place to go to would be that he starts to go into shock after his first death. (Possibly something awful like loosing a few limbs or a punctured lung) And his "retirement" could be mandatory institutionalization.

[Sonny]

Nice idea! What happens to the soldiers like this who get 'rejected'? Do they spend their whole life in the institution? What is it like? Do they eventually get let back into 'normal' Auraxian society where people can't be respawned? How do they cope in normal day-to-day life where life is suddenly meaningful after having been put through the war of endless death?

I had another idea. How about the story of one soldier who dies so many times that he starts to prefer the experience in between life and the nanites reconstructing your body once more? He starts to live for it, he seeks death at every turn. One time, in his 'out of body death experience' he notices a distant light. Every time he dies, the light comes a little closer. Eventually, the light is close enough that he starts to hear a voice. With every death, the voice becomes louder and clearer. The soldier realises that it is the voice of the 'original' Vanu, the original inhabitants of Auraxis. They tell him the secrets of Auraxis, the Vanu race and what happened to them. He learns the secrets of extroadinary technologies that will finally put an end to the endless war on Auraxis.

He tells his fellow squadmates what he has learnt. With every death he gains followers, acolytes, worshippers even. The Terran command start to notice what is happening. They disable his genetic code so that he cannot respawn again and they set a trap for him. On his way to give a speech to his followers in a distant quadrant, he is ambushed and killed... Or is he?!!?

Sonny

[Brogan]

Another interesting place to go is what if suddenly the rebirth malfunctions? Some guy dies, another day another dollar for him, and then, something isn't right. Either physically or mentally. This could be done with varying degrees of squick. Could even be that he is reconstructed with the same bullet wound that killed him in the first place. Could be sabotage, or it could be the original vanu saying GTFO as it happens more and more often to each faction...
Original vanu are like *facepalm* "we set all this up to prepare you for peaceful relations." *sigh*

And to answer your question, I'd imagine that the those that are institutionalized would probably be experimented on for a way to selectively stop someone from ever respawning again. (A useful thing to have in a world where respawning effectively make true victory impossible)

This could also be used for a less dark story too, where the guy die for the first time and respawning, with the Sargent waiting there for him, ending with "what took ya so long" or something.

[FrothyLoad]

Well if you really want to get into details, death would still be a real thing to worry about. In this universe personalities are immortal but people are not. As soon as your actual brain matter dies, all the neural connections are lost and what you experienced as your consciousness is no more.

Shortly after death, in a rebirthing matrix nearby, a cloned brain develops the same exact connections you had in your brain when you died. This person would not be you but would feel as if the consciousness was continuous from his or her point of view assuming the rebirthing creates a perfect replica.

This is even more disturbing than just "coming back" in a tube every time you die. The new "you" would have all the horrifying memories built up over countless replications and has to live with the knowledge of only being a copy of an original human being that died long ago. Back at the barracks, at home with family on leave, everyone would know that the individual sitting there with them is not the same one they saw leave the door the time before. Just a perfect recreation.