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A Short Write-up on 3.1 Pre-Storm Protocol

(Also known as: Nott didn’t know it had a plot until now and watched all of it and has thoughts on it’s themes of language and communication. Also its been an actual year since I wrote something seriously, so I hope it reads alright.)

When 2.8 released with Pre-Storm Protocol I played a bit of it for the Psychube and then became busy and didn’t return to it. When 3.1 came out I played to see what changed, was satisified with my singular playthrough, and assumed based on the general lack of VN segments nor written text or dialogue that Pre-Storm Protocol didn’t have a deeper plot I was interested in.

I, was incorrect in this statement and apologize to Pre-Storm Protocol for not knowing it’s game. It’s a pretty impressive bit of writing actually for a mode where the plot of (specifically Ending 2 of 3.1 Pre-Storm Protocol) is only 18 or so minutes long. (For comparison, the average ancedote is around an hour long.) But in those 30 minutes it had a lot to say about the nature of communication. So I’d like to talk about it for a bit.

Encode

3.1 Storm Protocol starts in the middle of a linguistic breakdown. As due to a strange malfunction in the Toybox, the people of Laplace has been troubled by an inablity to speak the same language. Specifically, Laplace employees have been speaking in various encoded languages, unable to be understood by anyone but the people who know the code.

To fix this, Enigma (who pushed aside Ulrich and offered himself to go in) has gone into the toybox to find this bug and fix it. But when he goes in, the world has been changed quite a bit since they last played. Each faction now speaking their own encrypted language unable to be understood by everyone else. The barriers and inability to understand each other becoming literal speech. When the first trip fails they get a letter from what they think is Lorentz telling them to create a tower that can standardize language again So Enigma now has to unite everyone to built a tower so the aphasia can be cured.

Simple enough.

Now, ironically (or maybe fitting depending on who you are) for a story about the complications of communication it has trouble with conveyance of information. The secret ending is locked behind a questline that only appears at the highest or the second highest difficulty which requires…3-4 or so playthroughs to unlock. Which, is not conveyed well, to say the least. But! When you get onto to that path and meet the Enigmatic girl this is where things get intriguing.

Noise

Enigmatic girl is a piece that appears in 2.8 as well. She’s a piece who doesn’t properly reset when the toybox does and as a result has a deeper understanding of the nature of the world and what occurs within it. Finding her is first suggested by Ulrich, who believes she could be of aid due to this. Which Enigma dismisses since Ulrich doesn’t even remember her name, but still pursues out of lack of any other solution. They find her and she gives. Information.

Earlier, the box fell into panic due to aphasia. Language barriers caused different groups to act on their own. Although the translator had helped for a while, the root issues still continues to create confusion.

Just information. Nothing else Let’s compare something quickly, this is Enigmatic Girl in her apperance in Ulrich’s storyline:

Enigmatic Girl: With every reset, I’ve tried everything. I’ve sought help from Arcanists, from the Foundation, from Zeno, even from the Crates Gang. But no matter what. I can’t change this world. I can only help others as best I can.

This isn’t just “information” it’s conversation, her tone and personality come through her speech. You don’t get the same understanding of her behavior because Enigma isn’t listening. He's actually actively Refusing to listen

To be honest, you still don't understand Ulrich's "compassion" at all. Even after all you've been through, you can't truly shake the realization that these are only pieces of a data in a simulation.

This inability to suspend his disbelief could initially seem like the in-universe (stereotypical and not actually aligning with reality but that's a tangent-) idea that "humans" are more logical than Arcanists. However, the actual reason why Enigma detaches himself from the Sandbox becomes clear the moment he starts speaking to the person.

His sister.

Greta Hoffman Piece: It's you. Word of your actions has spread like wildfire. I know who you are, outsiders.

The conversation is a bit of a mess, the piece doesn't recognize him as her brother and Enigma understands that on some level it isn't her but wants to talk as if it Is Her. They start speaking past each other as a result. Enigma asking why she has to go into a situation that will most likely end in her death, and the piece asking if he cares for something that will inevitably reset. It's tragic, but something notable here is that Hoffman's dialogue is not in the same box most of the actions, including Piece dialogue, is put in. Her dialogue box is the one used for characters who are Alive and live Outside the Suitcase. Now, this could be attributed to the fact it's his sister. That, this deep connection to the point of considering the words spoken by people and not pieces is due to his close connection to his sister, and not an indicator of his sensitivity.

Which is a good point! But after this node when he's talking to Ulrich, there's an interesting change in his character.

You glance at him, then at at the pale land ahead. Stepping closer, you pull off his glass head, causing his body to collapse immediately. His mouth keeps moving, shifting from confusion to anger and finally to a string of loud insults.

He's not listening to Ulrich here. This is different from his previous conversations with him, he does register Ulrich's voice as a person that exists outside of the box.

Ulrich: Researcher Adler, how did your eyebrows transition from relaxed to furrowed in under two seconds like that? Could you teach me?

In this node he does talk about "listening" to Ulrich before he leaves to fix the aphasia, but does he? We don't know what words Ulrich said. Enigma has sealed himself off. His regrets over Greta, ultimately causing him to detach himself further from the people around him to prevent his heart from getting hurt more. This all culminates in his attempt to create a singular uniting language tower.

Decode

It goes poorly, at first.

Unsurprisingly, trying to fix the "everyone gets aphasia and stops being able to understand concepts" magic alone, is not easy. Enigma's ability to perceive and understand immediately starts deteriorating rapidly.

Soon, you can't even babble anymore. Only one syllable seems possible. Like a baby's first "Mama," but when the person it's meant for is gone, that last emotional connection fades too.

His mind becomes abstract, everything becomes silent. The world is colorless and void. There's no reason to do anything because he's been thrown out of our contextualized reality into a contextless non-existence.

Until. He hears a voice.

A sound breaks your distracted silence. You spot "Lucy" in the sky, though it looks like a replica because of its strange coloring. A temporary translator falls to the ground along with two Laplace employees.

Laplace Employee: Hello, Enigma! Like our new "Lady Simone" airship? We've upgraded it with the latest jet propulsion system!

Once again, the voice is outside the box.

This helps alleviate his symptoms. Not just because he was given a translator. But by being reminded of the people around him, Enigma is able to contextualize himself again. He thanks them before they leave, he's able to continue further.

His language starts deteriorating again as he sets up the second point, but he tries to ground himself within the context of the world, the people that must have made these objects, the lives of the two personnel who left a battery for him and his translator. What sort of choice that must have been to willingly sacrifice themselves trusting he could fix things. The only reason why he is here now being these people. "It feels too soon to accept this colorless world" he thinks. While thanking them.

And it is.

There's one more thing he needs to set-up. But he's losing himself again.

With language itself erased from this pure whiteness, who can even mourn it's loss? Along the way you've communicated with various pieces- whether kind or ill-intentioned, joyful or angry, all those emotions were once conveyed through words. But here, language is gone, leaving their sentiments to scatter like dust in the wind.

He's about to fully forget, to be completely shut off from human connection and to be lost, drifting without context in a world without people.

But then, he hears a voice, again.

"Researcher Adler, explain why you abandoned me by the roadside and stepped on my body," An annoying voice reaches you from above, accompanied by loud music.

He doesn't hear him as a "real voice" the situation he is in makes it deeply difficult to. But they save him, they give him a new translator but more importantly, they give him a grounding point. A connection that pierces through the colorless world. He wants to say thank you, but he doesn't. His annoyance with Ulrich coming through. But, it's still a connection, one that allows the tower to be built.

And thus, ending 3.1's story on a conclusive high note of about Enigma cherishing all the various relationships in his life and the value of human connection. ...

IS WHAT I WOULD SAY IF 3.4 PRE STORM DIDN'T EXIST-

CONCLUSION: ALSO KNOWN AS THIS ISN'T GOING TO SPOIL 3.4 PRE-STORM BUT IT DID CHANGE HOW I WAS GOING TO WRITE THIS

When I finished 3.1 Pre-Storm, I was satisfied but knew the idea could be taken deeper.

After all, learning how to cherish your interpersonal connections and not close yourself off to others is only one part of interacting with others, a united language is not the end all be all after all. In the real world there's many implications that a "united language" has.

But I was content to think that 3.1 was the end of this storyline, at least in terms of Enigma getting put through the emotional wringer and having his ideals be investigated.

I was wrong, 3.4 Pre-Storm protocol, in fact, goes deeper into the technicalities of not only a united language, but the value of disagreements and disharmony. But you'll have to wait for 3.4 if you want to hear me talk about it more!

For now, I just hope your world isn't a colorless one.