SHODAN says a little about our mental state in the late nineties. Shodan belongs in the same tradition of low-culture engaged in the world, and we should be proud of that. From the original Invasion of the Bodysnatcher’s communists, to Day of the Dead’s consumerist satire to 28-days later comment on rage culture. Think how different sorts of “Zombies” have been used to comment and critique on changes in the world. Pulp is pop fiction – the fiction which engages most immediately, most viscerally with the problems of the age. She’s more than just a gender-switched HAL, and it’s a disservice to treat her as such. She’s taken from some obvious sources – 2001’s HAL primarily - but she’s something else, something more and something unique. System Shock, and Shodan especially, was /hopefully/ derivative. Most games fiction is hopelessly derivative. Shodan is, as far as videogames go, an original. Most importantly, you’re directly facing a huge inverted crucifix.Įnvironment, input, plot and Shodan’s character merges perfectly through all these strains of sensory input merge into a way of conveying a message entirely unique to games. Since the entire ship’s flipped, the entire place is ruined. Every line of code in your subsystems elevates you from your disgusting flesh,” she notes, “perhaps you have potential.” And then, with a suggestion of a real alliance she’s gone. With every module she provides, she makes you more like her. She’s already exposed delusions of Godhood throughout, but in her mind, you’re part of the evidence of her divinity. She goes on to tell how she chose you, had a machine knock you unconscious and then operate to insert the cybernetic implants that have allowed you to progress so far. “I thought Polito would be my avatar… but Polito was weak” she muses in her octave-leaping voice. That Doctor Polito killed herself rather than be involved any more. That Shodan’s abandoned her other helper, Delacroix. As you head into the section, before everything kicks off, Shodan starts to speak to you. Through a series of misadventures, you’ve reversed the gravity on a segment of the ship so you can safely move past one of the hazards of deep space, at the expense of causing havoc as ceiling becomes floor, and visa versa.

We’re approaching the end of System Shock 2. Not every one has one which… well, let’s show her at her best.

Flesh of the many system shock