(previously in Program Twelve: Novas 2.7)
(previously in Program Twelve: Novas 2.8)
It is 1986. On the Corporate Satellite, Susan has escaped once more from the Simulation. Now she just has to deal with the reality of SYSTEM… and find Jack.
BEGIN PROGRAM TWELVE MODULE THREE.
(Novas 2.9: So Sudden And So Ageless)
01 System Shock (1994, USA) SYSTEM
Look at you, hacker. A pathetic creature of meat and bone, panting and sweating as you run through my corridors. How can you challenge a perfect immortal machine?
This iconic quote doesn’t appear in-game in the original System Shock (1994), but is part of the sound test. It also appears in the opening cinematic of System Shock 2 (1999).
SHODAN is voiced by Terri Brosius, who was keyboardist and backup vocalist for the alternative rock band Tribe. (She’d be the redhead in this video of “Joyride” circa 1991; the lead singer doing a good SHODAN impression is Janet LaValley). When the band broke up in 1994, Terri, her husband Eric and bassist Greg Piccolo went on to Looking Glass Studios, and into a place in software history.
Shamus Young’s fanfic novel “Free Radical” is a pretty good retelling of the System Shock story that does a lot better by SHODAN than the video game ever did.
02 Cam Floria and the Continentals – Ezekiel Saw The Wheel (1965, USA) SKYWATCH SHADOW
Ooh, looky there Way up in the middle of the air Ooh, looky there Way up in the middle in the middle and Ezekiel saw the wheel Way up in the middle of the air Ezekiel saw the wheel Up in the middle of the air Oh the little wheel run by faith And the big wheel run by the grace of God Wheel in a wheel in a wheel in a wheel Up in the middle of the air Ezekiel saw the wheel Up in the middle of the air What kind of wheel did Ezekiel see? Up in the middle of the air I leave it up to you and me Leave it up in the middle of the air I think that wheel's about to spin Way in the middle of the air I see the Lord he took my sin Way in the middle of the air So bid this world a sweet goodbye Way in the middle of the air It's heaven brother way up high Up in the middle of the air Ezekiel saw the wheel Up in the middle of the air Ezekiel saw the wheel Up in the middle of the air It was a spinning wheel Way up in the middle of the air With gold pin on the wheel Up in the middle of the air So spin that wheel around Way up in the middle of the air And bring that gold pin down Up in the middle of the air So friends I'm glad to see you ponder On what's in that great beyonder Each man gets his just rewards So put your faith in the Lord Hallelujah, hallelujah Wheel in a wheel in a wheel in a wheel in a wheel in a wheel in a wheel Ezekiel saw the wheel Way up in the middle of the air Ezekiel saw the wheel Up in the middle of the air Little wheel run by faith And the big wheel run by the grace of God Ezekiel saw the wheel Up, up, up, up, up In the middle of the air
The Corporate satellite is a city in space, a world to itself. The future of humanity, brought to you today by Astradyne Orbital.
We had this album at home. It’s one of my earliest memories of music. Surprisingly, this song still holds up.
03 Them Fargo Brothers – Ain’t No UFO Gonna Catch My Diesel (1981, USA) SKYWATCH SHADOW (DATA FILE)
Gonna tell you a story happened to me Way down on the southern Texas line Driving a truckload of beans to LA None of my friends would believe a word that I'd say Well I guess it was about 4am This funky little rig came hovering all over me Funniest rig I ever did see Didn't have no tires Didn't make no damn sense to me Ain't no UFO gonna catch my diesel I don't care if it comes from outer space Ain't no UFO gonna catch my diesel Ain't no machine's ever gonna take her place Well you shoulda seen this rig Covered with orange racing stipes Even had a pair of chrome stags This little dude had four arms One for each wheel I knew we were gonna race Ain't no UFO gonna catch my diesel I don't care if it comes from outer space Ain't no UFO gonna catch my diesel Ain't no machine's ever gonna take her place Hey Aww, little more, little more I shoved that Kenworth down into overdrive That sucker really began to hum That fella had to pull in the back of me I betcha to that day he's still eating my dust Ain't no UFO gonna catch my diesel I don't care if it comes from outer space Ain't no UFO gonna catch my diesel Ain't no machine's ever gonna take her place Well ain't no UFO gonna catch my diesel I don't care if it comes from outer space Ain't no UFO gonna catch my diesel Ain't no machine's ever gonna take her place
Back on Earth, UFO sightings are increasing.
I first found this song via Joe Dolce (“Angel Dove“), but as far as I can tell the original was written by Bill Madison and recorded in 1981 for Them Fargo Brothers (though reissued in 2017). One of the rare cases where Discogs doesn’t yet have good data.
04 System Shock (1994, USA) SYSTEM
This elevator serves me alone. I have complete control of this entire level. With cameras as my eyes and nodes as my hands, I rule here, insect.
05 Abba – I Am The City (1982, Sweden) SYSTEM AND THE ASTRADYNE CHORUS
Coming through a cloud you're looking at me from above And I'm a revelation spreading out before your eyes And you find me beautiful and irresistable A giant creature that forever seems to grow in size And you feel a strange attraction The air is vibrant and electrified Welcome to me, here I am, my arms are open wide Somewhere in the middle of the never-ending noise There is a pulse, a steady rhythm of a heart that beats And a million voices blend into a single voice And you can hear it in the clamour of the crowded streets People come and take their chances Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose a lot Come make your own contribution to this melting pot I'm the street you walk The language you talk I am the city The skyline is me And the energy I am the city The famous hotels And the cocktail bars And the funny smells And the turmoil of cars And the people The air that you're breathing is me Yes I am the city You let me be People feed me with their lives, I am a hungry soul And they all worship me and pay their homage day and night Every day I hear a lot of tired shopping feet But come the night they will be dancing in the neon light Dazzled by the crazy magic They're grabbing pieces of the fatted calf And in the wind if you listen hard you'll hear me laugh I'm the street you walk The language you talk I am the city The skyline is me And the energy I am the city The famous hotels And the cocktail bars And the funny smells And the turmoil of cars And the people The parks and the squares that you see All the songs that you hear And the air that you're breathing is me Yes I am the city You let me be I am the city You let me be I am the city The famous hotels And the cocktail bars And the funny smells And the turmoil of cars And the people The air that you're breathing is me Coming through a cloud you're looking at me from above And I'm a revelation spreading out before your eyes I'm the street you walk The language you talk I am the city Yes I am the city You let me be And you find me beautiful and irresistable A giant creature that forever seems to grow in size The skyline is me And the energy I am the city You let me be Somewhere in the middle of the never-ending noise There is a pulse, a steady rhythm of a heart that beats I'm the street you walk The language you talk I am the city Yes I am the city You let me be And a million voices blend into a single voice And you can hear it in the clamour of the crowded streets The skyline is me And the energy I am the city
SYSTEM searches the Satellite relentlessly for Susan.
An unpublished late Abba song, recorded just before their breakup (and on the verge of their transition from disco to New Wave), which was only released in 1993.
06 System Shock (1994, USA) SYSTEM
You are not welcomed here. Remove yourself.
07 Arcade Fire – Here Comes The Night Time (2013, Canada) JACK AND SKYWATCH SHADOW
When the sun goes down When the sun goes down you head inside Cause the lights don't work Yeah nothing works they say You don't mind Here comes the night time Here comes the night time Here comes the night time And the missionaries They tell us we will be left behind Been left behind A thousand times A thousand times If you want to be righteous If you want to be rightous get in line Cause here comes the night time Here comes the night time Here comes the night time Here comes the night time Here comes the night time Here comes the night Here comes the night time Here comes the night time They say heaven's a place Yeah heaven's a place and they know where it is But you know where it is It's behind the gate they won't let you in And when they hear the beat Coming from the street they lock the door But if there's no music Up in heaven then what's it for? When I hear the beat The spirit's on me like a live wire A thousand horses Running wild in a city on fire Well it starts in your feet Then it goes to your head And if you can't feel it Then the roots are dead And if you're the judge Then what is our crime? Here comes the night time Here comes the night time Here comes the night time Here comes the night time Here comes the night time Here comes the night Here comes the night Here comes the night Here comes the night Here comes the night Here comes the night, the night, the night, the night The night time Now the preachers they talk Up on the satellite If you're looking for hell Just try looking inside Here comes the night time, the night time Here comes the night time, the night time Here comes the night time, the night time Here comes the night time, the night time Here comes the night time, the night time When you look in the sky Just try looking inside God knows what you might find When you look in the sky Just try looking inside God knows what you might find Here comes the night time
Jack’s simulation is collapsing.
I know it’s a modern song but it’s the right one.
08 System Shock (1994, USA) SYSTEM
Enter that room, insect, and it will become your grave.
09 Frida – To Turn The Stone (1982, Sweden) SUSAN AND SKYWATCH SHADOW
The moon retreats behind a silver cloud As darkness throws his cloak towards the earth And mystery replaces what we thought we knew To turn the stone To turn the stone The one dimension only shows one side But do we see the same through different eyes? As you and I peer into life's kaleidoscope To turn the stone To turn the stone Eternal sands of time shift endlessly Behind a veil of motionless disguise An eyelid flash is all it really seems to need To turn the stone To turn the stone
Susan has found Jack’s immersion chamber.
As Abba and its relationships collapsed, Anni-Frid Lyngstad recorded her third solo album (and the first in English), “Something’s Going On” with an impressive list of collaborators: Phil Collins, Bryan Ferry, Rod Argent, Russ Ballard… and Georgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte with this song. Which was originally written for and recorded by Donna Summer in 1981, but I like Frida’s version better.
I’m not sure but I suspect the phrase “to turn the stone” might be a reference to the poet Francis Thompson’s “The Kingdom of God / In No Strange Land“:
Not where the wheeling systems darken, And our benumbed conceiving soars!— The drift of pinions, would we hearken, Beats at our own clay-shuttered doors. The angels keep their ancient places;— Turn but a stone, and start a wing! ‘Tis ye, ‘tis your estrangèd faces, That miss the many-splendoured thing.
10 System Shock (1994, USA) SYSTEM
Who are you? The computer nodes can be repaired, but you - who are you? My cameras and probes scan your body, but you do not match any employee file. When my cyborgs bring you to an electrified interrogation bench, I will have your secret. And you will learn more about pain than you ever wanted to know.
11 The Folk Choir and Cantabile – So Confusing And So Very Clear (1976, England) SUSAN, JACK, AND SKYWATCH SHADOW
It seems like only yesterday that time I wasn't well Everything was getting to feel strange The kind of thing that lets you know you're living with your hell More to do with aching than with pain Enough to ask a prayer, and it figures I asked if I could please get some relief And laying this old head upon the pillo Wished that it was so to pass in sleep But I woke up I felt better Something drew me gently from the brink Came alive Like I hadn't felt for ages And lord, it made me think It's never come this way before may never come again It wasn't all that much, but it'll do Whatever was the reason, believe it's not in vain For in it I can see a little truth I've knelt for God under every crucifix Expecting that the prize would be to drift away But peace is not at such a distance Being alive is the only way Waking up I feel better Someone's playing havoc with my dreams I'm alive And I hope it lasts for ages Whilst I find out what it means I've never seen the face that has God to itself Never heard the voice that always speaks His words And I don't know what He is Only what He does To everything that I have seen and heard In happiness, in sadness And all the shades between In people, and in every living thing In every changing landscape In every reaching thought We the birds And circumstance our wings We're awake To get better Something draws us softly from our breath It is life So sudden and so ageless So confusing and so very clear We're awake To get better Something draws us softly from our breath It is life So sudden and so ageless So confusing and so very clear We're awake To get better Something draws us softly from our breath It is life So sudden and so ageless So confusing and so very clear So confusing and so very clear So confusing and so very clear
Susan and Jack.
A remarkable little album from that lost era of 1960/70s psychedelic folk (from a little Catholic church in Surrey – the choir still exists, though its days of producing folk records are gone) that haunted me sometime in the early 1990s.
12 Europe – Tomorrow (1988, Sweden) JACK (ALMOST AWAKE)
Will you be there beside me if the world falls apart? And will all of our moments remain in your heart? Will you be there to guide me all the way through? I wonder will you Walk by my side And follow my dreams And bear with my pride As strong as it seems Will you be there Tomorrow? Will you be there beside me as time goes on by? And be there to hold me whenever I cry? Will you be there to guide me all the way through? I wonder will you Walk by my side And follow my dreams And bear with my pride As strong as it seems Oh, will you be there Oh, now will you be there Oh, will you be there Tomorrow?
Jack about to wake.
Europe had other songs than “The Final Countdown“. Who knew?
See also: “Tomorrow“; “There’s A Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow“; “Take Me To Tomorrow“
(next in story time: Novas 5.5 Act 1)