In 2015, Frictional Games created one of the best narrative-driven horror games loved by fans and critics called SOMA. Following the story of a man named Simon, you are thrown into a unique and dangerous world after the sudden fall of civilization, where the last remaining humans are deep underwater, barely escaping the catastrophe above.
Following through the story, you will be asking yourself questions that could very well be a reality that many of us could partake in, whether ethically or not. Because of these questions that SOMA brings out, it has left many wondering if the future we’re going towards is something people want, especially with dangers clearly proven within the game.
6 The Comet
One of the questions that linger throughout the entire game and even after it’s finished is how exactly did the comet manage to wipe out all of humanity? Through notes left around, we find out that the comet was bigger than the one that wiped out the dinosaurs and slammed into the Earth, wiping out billions at a time.
Afterward, the people who had survived were wiped out by earthquakes leaving no one alive on the surface. However, one point that comes up in discussion is why more wasn’t done to stop the comet that every country in the world knew was coming. On top of that, it’s said that the only thing done to prevent destruction was to shoot a few missiles at it before it struck. When a world-ending event is about to happen, wouldn’t it make sense to do as much as possible to save humanity? The game is set over one hundred years into the future, where technology has advanced significantly, after all.
5 David Munshi
David Munshi is a prominent character at the beginning of the game, which started the experiment of copying people’s minds to put into other bodies. As stated to Simon, Munshi’s intentions from the beginning were to find irregularities in the brain so that simulations could be performed on the brain without damage to the patient. Unfortunately, though, not much more is known due to Simon dying in the real world and his first copy moved into a new body years later.
However, one of the transmissions we learn from Simon is that the experiment ended up “failing” and that Simon would die anyway. In those last seconds, Simon says he doesn’t mind if Munshi uses that copy of him to further science. Munshi replies weirdly, asking if he really wouldn’t care, and years later, we find out that instead of Munshi going with his original plan, he starts working on artificial intelligence. This begs the question of whether or not David Munshi, from the beginning, was planning on saving Simon or letting him die to further his own goals.
4 WAU And Simon
Simon was the first human to be copied back in 2015. He had no relation to any events that proceeded the game except that he was ground zero for artificial intelligence. The WAU, an artificial intelligence tasked with preserving humanity, brought Simon into the new world without information on why he was there or what was going on. Despite that, Simon never lost focus or their sanity throughout his journey, lasting until the very end.
Why was Simon chosen to be brought back to life? The station had countless subjects copied, many of which would have made better choices. We can assume from the monsters that WAU was making that it was chosen randomly to preserve humanity, but again, someone like Simon could be the worst choice. Not to mention the WAU clearly put some effort into making this robot copy of Simon since there were attached body parts, a robot chip, a replacement head, and a ton of body gel to create him.
3 Omicron
The incident at Omicron is one of the most puzzling aspects of the game, leaving you with a question of why the WAU, bent on preserving humanity, killed a station full of people by overloading their black boxes and popping their heads. It’s surmised by fans and through notes that it was a self-defense mechanism, activated when Dr. Johan Ross, the creator of the WAU, wanted to shut it down permanently.
However, what’s most confusing about this scenario is that it showed throughout the game that WAU was highly intelligent and could have easily stopped this from happening without murdering everyone. The WAU is a station-wide AI connected to every piece of technology and could even create human mutations by simply having its structure gel near them; it wouldn’t have been hard to trap and imprison the scientists in that case.
2 The Afterlife
The afterlife is a concept that’s brought up by Simon yet not explored except for an incident with Mark Sarang, a scientist who killed himself after believing that since he was copied onto the ARK, that consciousness should be the only one left alive. After reading these notes and facing a situation where there are now two of himself, Simon asks whether or not two versions of his body would go into the afterlife after dying.
Would the original Simon who died in Canada meet the one in Omicron? Would there be three Simons if the one traveling to deliver the ARK also died? How does it all work? By this method, would the afterlife really be peaceful afterward, or would multiple personalities taint it? This is all an assumption that all versions would go into the afterlife, but would only be one slot available? Or does a newer version replace the older one?
1 Catherine's Indifference
The only sane enough person that Simon meets on his journey and ends up becoming companions with is Catherine Chun, the creator of the ARK project. When Simon meets up with Catherine, it’s evident from the get-go that Catherine only cares about the status and safety of the ARK that she has spent years working with. And although Simon considers her a companion, she primarily acts in her own best interests and what she thinks is right.
Frequently when Simon is in danger or unable to understand the world that he’s been unwillingly thrust into, Catherine’s indifference to his problems speaks volumes. The person she relies on and needs to secure the ARK is the same person she voluntarily ignores most of the time when he needs it the most. This is the case for a variety of situations, especially whenever Simon is “transferring” his consciousness or uncomfortable with killing another robot. Even up until the very end, it’s understandable in some capacity as to why Simon would feel angry or upset with her at the things she did to him or refused to talk to him about. Which bodes the question, why did Catherine ignore the only person she could count on when the ARK was in his hands?