I Fed My Horse A Glowstick And Now It Looks Like This. Help.

Me when the phase gate is opening

AL-AN activating the teleporter in the Phase Gate Facility

I once again would like to acknowledge the humorous nature of AL-AN floating whenever he blinks since it isn’t intended to be closely looked at

A removed conversation between Robin and AL-AN that remains in the games audio files.

It’s a very interesting interaction, but I do see why they opted to leave it out. Though it is nice to see a longer conversation between them. Especially one where they talk out their reasonings for differing views, and one where Robin ends up expressing empathy for AL-AN.

Transcript under the cut

AL-AN: Thank you for undertaking the quest for an alternative storage medium.

Robin: I would really love it if you could stop referring to me as a storage medium.

A: Not you. Your body.

R: My body is a significant part of who I am and how I experience life.

A: It is different for us.

R: Clearly. Or you wouldn’t have been hanging out in that sanctuary waiting to hitch a ride with me.

R: How did you get in there anyway?

A: We came here in search of a cure for the Kharaa bacterium.

R: What? Thousands of years ago?

A: I do not experience time as you do, but yes, that is technically correct.

A: My body was infected before a vaccine could be developed. I uploaded my consciousness to the sanctuary for storage.

R: What happened to the others?

A: Some left, others perished. Over time my connection to them grew weaker… I cannot sense them now.

R: AL-AN… I—

[missing piece of dialogue]

R: Yes okay, but— what I was going to say was… I’m sorry.

A: …Why? You have done nothing wrong.

R: Not sorry like an apology. Sorry like I feel empathy.

A: Are all your human languages so… confusing?

R: All the ones I know are.

This always makes me chuckle

The Architects had facetime

Hello Bytewire, I love your analysis!, and may I ask about architects planet, all what I seen/know about it is picture in ending of SBZ, and interesting, what do you think/know about their planet? ^^

Thank you! Every bit of appreciation I get motivates me to continue posting. I enjoy knowing that people find my posts useful/interesting.

Analyzing the Architect Home World.

Not much is known about the state of the Architect's home world regarding Architect settlements and life on the planet. While the buildings we see are intact, it is not definitive towards the state of the collective. If it still exists. So, instead of this being speculation about whether Architects still operate on their home world, I will go over all the information that I can gather about their planet from what we have seen. I will also use freecam to take a closer look at details you wouldn't normally be able to view.

Let's begin with what we see in the final cutscene.

As AL-AN navigates out of the Phase Gate and through the atmosphere the ship is steered through heavy storm clouds, narrowly being guided through edifices of buildings that form what appears to be a cityscape. The ship breaks through the storm and is met with a harsh sun glare before getting a fuller view of this grand Architect city sitting on an area of high elevation. There are structures much bigger than we see in 4546B, though it's hard to discern their purposes. Despite AL-AN not having been here for a millennium—there is a surprising lack of ruin. Floating buildings supported by cables haven't fallen, multiple Phase Gates are still in operation, and there is no overgrowth of any plant life. I wouldn't necessarily call it 'maintained' but it certainly isn't in a state of desecration.

Now, let's take a look at what can be seen on their home world in freecam.

It's hard to discern the surface due to all the clouds, but if you set the game speed to zero and toggle freecam we are able to see the full skybox. This reveals a lot more information than the brief image you see in the cutscene. As you can see, there are many clouds still, but towards the bottom left they part a bit, and you can see glimpses of the terrain. It is high elevation and rocky. Fitting with the description of Architect bodies being made for navigating rough terrain. Their legs described as being reminiscent of mountain goats. It makes sense that the terrain of their home planet is rocky and mountainous.

Architect buildings seem to focus on vertical structure first and foremost. Whether it be the skyscrapers, grand entrances, or floating platforms suspended by their levitation technology and supported with cables. On many of these buildings there appears to be areas where ships may be docked. Given the ability for AL-AN to integrate himself with the ship, their vessels having the 'blink' teleportation ability, and the use of phase gates, their vertical design seems to account for ability to quickly and efficiently travel between them.

There are also a few buildings you can view that you otherwise wouldn't be able to, though these structures do not differ much from the larger ones that are seen.

The high elevation, the storms we see as we first enter the home world, and the abundance of clouds may indicate a harsh environment. It's most probable that (in the location we see) it is somewhat commonplace for their home world. Architect vessels are adapted for extremes after all.

The unusual weather most likely originates from global temperatures warming due to Architect activity rather than from their star, as the planet's distance from its star seems to be similar to Earth's. This is probably what causes the large amount of clouds. This would make things pretty humid and prone to fast weather cycles.

Their buildings having no windows may be more for practicality in that sense. It'd be a lot less structurally sound in case of extreme weather events if they were to have windows.

Around this concave structure, typically hidden by another building, and here peeking through the clouds, you can see what potentially could be plant life. It appears short, like shrubs and/or small grasses. They appear to be a warmer hue. Reds and oranges rather than green like on 4546B or Earth. If these are plants, that would suggest their star produces more green and blue light that the plants absorb. Adapting to reflect the warmer hues.

The sky that we are able to see is a colder shade of blue that fades to a more purplish color as you look up. This could be due to a higher argon content in their atmosphere, or it could be due to the way the light reflects through the numerous clouds and various gasses present. As for the atmosphere itself, it's probably safe to assume that it would be breathable for humans, but with a lesser oxygen content, partly due to the elevation, partly due to the general makeup. (I wouldn't imagine AL-AN taking Robin along if he knew she would asphyxiate lol)

Next are some small, unclear details, but ones I felt worth mentioning.

There is what might be either a distant star, another planet, or a small celestial body that orbits the Architect home world. It is uncertain, but it is distinct within the top right corner of the skybox.

Looking down towards the middle there appears to be a potential body of water. Whether it is a lake or an ocean is unclear as the clouds don't part enough to see it in full.

There are more mountains behind the second phase gate in the horizon that don't appear to have any structures near them.

This concludes the main things that I noticed. Anything else would be too grand of a speculation, and I do my best to keep my posts within canon territory.

I hope that this was helpful information about their home planet! I can also cover more Architect-specific parts in another post if wanted, but I tried to focus on the planet itself while also discussing the Architect—well—architecture. Just like the rest of the info about Architects, their home world is shrouded in ambiguity.

I like how small the phasegate makes AL-AN appear as you watch him assemble the ship.

A conversation between AL-AN and Robin in the old story about sensory perception

I really would love to learn about the other species that made up parts of Architects vessels. As well as learning a bit more about the planets and ecosystems they came from and how the Architects ended up coming across them.

RGB gaming alien