VotV Speculation Megapost
(For posterity's sake, the latest major release is 0.8)
(Also, buckle in. This post is a long one.)
(Edit 9/20/24: Added Addendum 1)
(Edit 10/14/24: Added Addendum 2)
It should be extremely obvious, but spoilers ahead.
As we all know, Voices of the Void has a "story breadcrumbs" approach to its plot. Combine that with its alpha status, and we're left with a lack of hard answers. However, some pieces did seem to click into place. This is far from anything definitive, but here are some of the conclusions I've drawn. Let's start with everybody's favorite:
god i want one to hold me like that
You know em. You love em. Like 90% of the fanart is about them. But the question is... what the hell are they doing here? Judging by the fact that they construct a campsite in the facility, they clearly expect to be here for a while. A common interpretation I hear from people is that the ones out in the facility are either political refugees, or just some sort of benign "tourist group". I've personally come to a different conclusion. Let's consider what they brought with them.
Exhibit A: The weapon (left)
The weapon they drop around Day 24 is no mere Star Trek phaser. If you drop it in the main building, pretty much EVERYTHING in the building is going to be sent flying from the resulting blast. Not only that, but the "human-wieldable" version that can be unlocked for the sandbox mode has one hell of a fire rate. Something tells me that there's no way in hell this thing is a civilian-grade weapon.
And, as established in a previous post of mine, they're kitted out in full-body armored stealth suits.
Exhibit B: The stealth suit (Kerf dutifully remains there for scale)
These aren't tourists or runaways. They're goddamn Black Ops. But you're probably asking, "If that's what they are, then why do they have nothing better to do than to steal shrimp and prank you?"
Don't worry, I'll get to that later. Eventually. Maybe.
For now, let's move on to a third thing of theirs: The letter to Kel.
Exhibit C: Esraniki's Letter (D-, see me after english class)
This is the letter left at the Ariral camp if you have maxxed reputation with them. There's one line in particular that's always stood out to me.
"GET WE HOME YOU GET DEATH AVOID"
So... why can't they go home? Let's review:
A: They have perfectly functional spacecraft parked right behind you. Even if they were broken, surely some random Pre-FTL primitive wouldn't be able to help with a mechanical failure in their technology. Hell, they buzz you at the radio tower with one. So there seems to be nothing physically stopping them from leaving.
B: They've come kitted out with some serious weapons and armor
C: Something in the facility is drawing the attention of all manner of extraterrestrials (and ghosts and demons. are 'metaterrestrials' a good word for them?)
So my take? They're monitoring something, waiting for an opportunity to act upon it. (In keeping with the Patch Note naming convention, I will be calling this unknown something "The Threat") Not only that, this 'opportunity' may only open up with the assistance of a human. But what could Dr. Kel possibly do that an Ariral couldn't? Well, I can think of one thing he can do better...
Interface with human technology.
Exhibit D: Ariral Communique (quality: shit)
Computer technology isn't some universal constant. You can't make a program and expect it to magically run on alien technology with an unknown architecture. This ain't Independence Day. The fact that the Arirals barely managed to send a heavily-garbled message to Kel's computer, quite frankly, speaks of an extreme amount of effort on their part. And it was all just to say the word "OUTSIDE".
If The Threat has some ties to human technology, then perhaps Kel actually could be more qualified to deal with it than the Ariral Black Ops.
Hmm... An unknown threat with ties to human technology. Could it possibly involve...
Part 2: The Incredibly Suspicious Bunker
"I left a 'Do not enter' note on the floor. That'll stop people from investigating!"
This damn thing is quite obviously, as TVtropes would put it, The Very Definitely Final Dungeon. It is my firm belief that this is what the Arirals were sent to monitor, and where The Threat can be found. But we can't really get much further in than a few doors. So... what's in there?
An easy assumption to make is that it's some sort of fallout/storm shelter. But something nearby might tell a different story...
Exhibit E: *squints* ...Liberty Prime?
If you take a metal detector over to the bunker entrance, you'll quickly discover a buried drive nearby. The image you just saw is its contents.
It's clear that something is being depicted here. What exactly it is, well, that's hard to say. but if you look at that teeny tiny thing at the top, you'll see something that looks like the Alpha base and its radio tower
oh god we're getting into crusty duende video territory now
What this says to me is that there is a colossal something underneath the base. Some sort of mega-facility? Unnatural cave formations? Something else entirely? Or I could be looking at it entirely wrong. But the point is, it's very likely that something extremely expansive is down there.
What if we could just take a peek a liiiittle bit further in? Well, there is ONE way...
Exhibit F: The Least Cursed Elevator in Horror Fiction
Roughly around 3:33 each night, there is a chance that a camera inside the bunker will become active. It's monitoring what appears to be a heavy-duty elevator coated in blood. An elevator like this would also indicate something buried deep underneath the base.
Say, this elevator seems familiar...
Exhibit G: Monique Santificer's Extremely Ominous Foreshadowing
...Huh. I'm sure that only means good things. So we have a Hellivator and evidence that there's some place that you'd need a Hellivator to get to. Are there any other clues around? Well, there's that handy instruction book on robotics. You can make your own little friend!
POV: You're 5'11 and she's 6'0
And... Oh! looking back at that camera, it looks like someone else made their... their own... friend...
Exhibit H: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-
...I don't think they followed the instructions to the letter. So it seems the people in the bunker were working on combining robots and, er, 'biomass'. I don't think our meaty friend here is The Threat itself, but I do believe that it is some aspect of it, or at least a result of it. And whatever The Threat is, it seems to be "leaking" out of the bunker. After all, this toothy bot here seems to have little siblings burrowing out from underground!
Exhibit I: should start running
Kerfus. Kerfur. Whatever name they have, they love you! Such a shame that the flesh inhabiting their chassis does not.
they seriously recalled the ++ models over a little thing like this, smh
Something deep underground, cursed flesh, and occult sigils. Hmm. Things would tie together neatly if there were, say, some sort of demon around associated with flesh and dark depths.
Part 3: Furfur (and conclusions)
"I WATCH YOU SHIT AT NIGHT"
The Great Earl of Hell and raw flesh afficianato, it's Furfur! Demonology refers to him as a liar, but also a teacher of secrets. And he seems to really really like flesh. Not bones, though. He's always leaving those behind.
They say that if you burn an offering of flesh at his altar, he'll give you a marketable Furfur plushie!
The children who survived loved them!
Interestingly, there's a certain location connected to Furfur: The bottom of the well. If you pass out at the bottom of the well, you will end up in a (dream of a?) mysterious structure.
Exhibit J: all shall be well and all manner of thing shall be well
A few things of note in this place:
-More demonic sigils
-The only 'exit' is a tunnel leading upward with a broken ladder. And even if you could reach up there, Furfur's giant skull-face is blocking the way.
-A unique knife, which when examined in the inventory, says that it was found "deep underground".
How very interesting that this flesh-loving demon has his own little place down in the depths of the earth. And you say the bunker reaching downwards has been spawning horrific robot-flesh amalgamations? Robots that are specifically of human design?
Well then.
So here's what I think is going down:
no i'm not crazy it's invisible alien catgirls versus demon cyborgs you weren't listening were you?
-Some scientists from before did a Very Bad Thing in the bunker depths. If I had to venture a guess, it's that they bargained with Furfur for secrets of the flesh, perhaps in the pursuit of cybernetics, biocomputers, or somesuch. This resulted in the Very Bad Thing happening, thus creating The Threat.
-The Threat was contained to some extent, but is starting to noticeably leak out. It is also severe enough to have drawn extraterrestrial attention.
-The Arirals have sent a squad to monitor the situation and act if necessary. Seeing as there's been no urgent need to act as of yet, they are bored out of their skulls and taking it out on you.
-The fact that the bunker hasn't been blown up by catgirl black ops already says to me that the situation down there is delicate, and a 'guns-blazing' approach would be inadvisable. Not only that, but The Threat seems to be tied to technology they have little knowledge of. They would most likely need outside assistance if they want a 'clean' resolution to the problem.
-And wouldn't you know it? Right there in the facility is some nerdy, crusty, half-crazed twink that seems to be very proficient in handling human technology. How very convenient.
"average person eats 3 roaches a year" factoid actually just statistical error. Dr. Kel, who-
That's how I think this ties together, personally. Of course, there's always unaccounted for 'loose ends' that may or may not be tied to the Bunker Conspiracy (the rozital pit in particular has been bugging me with its vagueness). Plus there's always the chance that I misinterpreted things like a dumbass. There were a few other smaller things I wanted to cover, but my fingers hurt from typing, and my ability to hyperfixate has its limits. And sorry if the screengrabs are a bit mismatched, I've already spent hours on this post without having to get screenshots from the game myself.
If anyone actually read through this monstrosity of a post, congratulations! If you're as deeply brainrotted as I am, feel free to point out the reasons I'm dumb and wrong :)
no, not this. wrong place. wrong time.
Every now and then I hear talk of lore clarifications in Discord servers, Google Docs, etc. Will I be covering these?
(source)
The reason? I want to give my impressions based purely on the work as published. Death of the Author and whatnot. The furthest I'll reach 'outside' the games are those ambiguous little teasers on YouTube, which you don't have to be in any 'specific server' or anything to see.
haha what if funni meme robot was irreversibly corrupted by the horrors?
Think of it as me giving a form of feedback on how the game is presented as an isolated work. Anyway, I'll be posting another Addendum later, connecting more demon stuff to the bunker. Fun!
One thing I intend to investigate between then and now is a rumor of a very poorly documented... item interaction. As a little preview, consider this note.
It seems, in my pursuit of knowledge regarding a mysterious bunker in an incomplete videogame story, I find myself investigating a skeletal entity of ambiguous origin described as having a single glowing eye. God. Fucking. Dammit. Every time with this shit.
This always seems to happen whenever the protagonist is bullied by tall monstergirls
Progress on my investigation has been slow due to a combination of poor RNG and real-life stuff. Fun fact: I've never encountered the fossilhound in my many months of playing, and it looks like that won't change anytime soon!
I'll get you one day, ya boney bastard.
In the meantime, it seems that someone has leaked classified pokemon data communications from our employers...
And just who do we encounter within the first few weeks?
Our classified documents are their vacation photos
So it seems that at the very least, our employers seem to be aware of the Arirals. So to what end do they want to draw them out? And why would the Arirals show any particular interest in a human presence in this facility specifically?
They clearly seem to be hiding their presence from the world at large with their cloaking ships and whatnot, but they seem almost eager to grab the attention of anyone working at this particular site.
And, as everyone already knows, Arirals are certified Goobers. They form like 3/5ths of the Counsel of Goobers*. The ones we encounter at the very least are very much not what our employers expect to kill us. So our employers are also aware of the existence of some other threat, possibly even THE Threat.
*the remaining members are Kerfuses and Dinguses
Truly an incomprehensible menace from beyond the stars. (source)
Personally, I feel like this all feeds back into my previous thoughts. There is clearly a Threat at this location, and the Arirals probably believe that they may need human assistance to do something here. Or maybe I'm just biased towards whatever random thoughts got cooked up in my head.
Anyway, hopefully next time I'll be back with reports of yanking the lifecrystal out from the Fossilhound's head and shoving it up its ass. I am so, SO sick of trying to get that thing to show up.
