The mini-game Quick Shooter 2 mentions a central consciousness that seems to be controlling the Sestren system. The intro says this:
“Request from central consciousness.
Requesting connection to the Memory Cell.
…
Initiating the re-construction of memory units from analysis data.”
And after you complete the mini-game:
“Analysis results reported to the central consciousness.
Request from central consciousness.
Continue monitoring world systems.
Continue observation of target.”
Who or what is this “central consciousness”? Sestren was defeated at the end of PD Saga, and the Heresy program was deactivated, so it couldn’t be them. The system had Azel’s voice, so it could be her consciousness, but this seems a bit unlikely to me.
This mini-game seems to happen after Quick Shooter 1, where the baby dragon is first spotted in the Sestren system. The “target” that has to be observed is likely the baby dragon, while the “world systems” are probably something like the “World Analysis system” that is seen in the “Enemy Attack!” mini-game. The Lagi and Orta we see in Quick Shooter 2 are a simulation that uses the information that was contained in the memory cells when Orta and lagi first entered it. But what were the memory units that needed to be re-constructed? Any thoughts?
Actually, Sestren was not destroyed at the end of Panzer Dragoon Saga - nor was the Heresy progam. The AI of Sestren was destroyed, and afterwords, the Heresy program seperated itself from Lagi and fused itself with the Sestren system. It then shut down the Tower network, and became what Sestren was originally intended for: to be an observer and record keeper.
The central consciousness is probably none of other than the Heresy program AI.
Well as you say, it can’t really be the “Sestren AI” from Saga (dead) or the entity that we call the Heresy Program (deactivated/dead). It’s also quite unlikely that it’s Azel, because if Azel had “become” the system, she wouldn’t really have needed to leave that message for Orta. (Well, she’d probably have just talked to her instead).
Consider this: the Sestren system is composed of organic computer programs (well, things loosely fitting that description): and as Orta passes through the system itself, it appears to be both a virtual reality and yet also some kind of vast organic construction.
Seeing as how the Ancients’ technologies were all based on genetic engineering, and they clearly engineered all those organic programs that inhabit the Sestren system, I’d speculate that the Sestren system itself was one vast organic entity: a computer system “grown” by the Ancients, in the same way that they grew all of their monsters and ruins. That “central consciousness” might be whatever passes for the system’s mind.
If you think about it,all these computer things we’ve got these days sound the same. Maybe, the sestren A.I has the same voice as Azel as they are similer beings?
To be honest, I’d never have noticed that the Sestren sytem had the same voice as Azel if Abadd hadn’t pointed it out in that other thread. So maybe Azel’s voice was just a “standard voice” that the Ancients gave to many of their creations?
(All of the ruins in Panzer Dragoon Saga communicate with Edge using identical voices, so it’s not a bad theory.)
A thought’s just struck me: we could be thinking about this whole System’s voice / Azel’s voice thing the wrong way around.
Isn’t it possible that what we hear in Azel’s message is simply the System reciting Azel’s message in its own voice? That would explain perfectly why they have exactly the same voice, which would be strange and completely unexplained otherwise. I mean, the ruins in Episode 6 have that voice as well, not just the Sestren system.
I know that the voice actor is listed in the credits as playing Azel, but those credits are quite vague and misleading; the Heresy Program / Dragon is listed as “Sestren”, for example, so it’s possible that they made a similar mistake here.
Unless of course that’s the same voice actor that played Azel in Saga: can anyone confirm that is was / wasn’t?
A thought’s just struck me: we could be thinking about this whole System’s voice / Azel’s voice thing the wrong way around.
Isn’t it possible that what we hear in Azel’s message is simply the System reciting Azel’s message in its own voice? That would explain perfectly why they have exactly the same voice, which would be strange and completely unexplained otherwise. I mean, the ruins in Episode 6 have that voice as well, not just the Sestren system.[/quote]
Perhaps, but the voice of the system didn’t show any emotion, unlike the message. This is also the reason why I had never noticed they were actually the same voice.
Actually, Sestren’s dialogue in memory cell 4 (PD Zwei) had the same voice as the Heresy program. I don’t think this was a mistake.
Well as you say, it can’t really be the “Sestren AI” from Saga (dead) or the entity that we call the Heresy Program (deactivated/dead). It’s also quite unlikely that it’s Azel, because if Azel had “become” the system, she wouldn’t really have needed to leave that message for Orta. (Well, she’d probably have just talked to her instead).
Consider this: the Sestren system is composed of organic computer programs (well, things loosely fitting that description): and as Orta passes through the system itself, it appears to be both a virtual reality and yet also some kind of vast organic construction.
Seeing as how the Ancients’ technologies were all based on genetic engineering, and they clearly engineered all those organic programs that inhabit the Sestren system, I’d speculate that the Sestren system itself was one vast organic entity: a computer system “grown” by the Ancients, in the same way that they grew all of their monsters and ruins. That “central consciousness” might be whatever passes for the system’s mind.[/quote]
Actually, the Heresy program is NOT deactivated. You run into into it in Sestren, depending on which path you take. It is, indeed, fused to the system and is conscious. Though it does say that it needs ‘rest’ it does not mean that it is deactivated…it’s just probably running on minimum requirements.
Lance already pointed out that this was probably a recording, and I think he’s right. The Heresy program was deactivated after the conversation, that’s what he meant by saying “I must rest”.
Well I’m surprised that you haven’t noticed this, but you run into the Heresy Program in a Memory Cell. Everything in the Memory Cells is just a recording, and evidently what you see in that scene is a recording of the Heresy Program. What you hear is what it said when it bid farewell to the physical dragon, immeditaly before it was deactivated. (Just after the events of Saga, that is). What it says would not make much sense otherwise, as I went to great lengths to explain in a previous thread…
The Saga ending did make it quite explicitly clear that the Heresy Program was going to be deactivated, too: it used the even more definitive term “destroyed”.
EDIT: Remember also that if the Heresy Program had not been deactivated, then by definition the Tower network would not have been shut down - which it very definitely was.
Well I’m surprised that you haven’t noticed this, but you run into the Heresy Program in a Memory Cell. Everything in the Memory Cells is just a recording, and evidently what you see in that scene is a recording of the Heresy Program. What you hear is what it said when it bid farewell to the physical dragon, immeditaly before it was deactivated. (Just after the events of Saga, that is). What it says would not make much sense otherwise, as I went to great lengths to explain in a previous thread…
The Saga ending did make it quite explicitly clear that the Heresy Program was going to be deactivated, too: it used the even more definitive term “destroyed”.
EDIT: Remember also that if the Heresy Program had not been deactivated, then by definition the Tower network would not have been shut down - which it very definitely was.[/quote]
[quote=“Lance”]I know that the voice actor is listed in the credits as playing Azel, but those credits are quite vague and misleading; the Heresy Program / Dragon is listed as “Sestren”, for example, so it’s possible that they made a similar mistake here.
Unless of course that’s the same voice actor that played Azel in Saga: can anyone confirm that is was / wasn’t?[/quote]
I can’t confirm it, but I checked Hitoshi Doi’s seiyuu (voice actor) database and it lists Maaya Sakamoto as the voice of Azel in PDS. Is that the same VA credited in Orta?
For what it’s worth, long before the credits even roled, I was positive that that was Azel’s own voice leaving her message. Not because of what she was saying, but because I recognized her voice for what it was. Maybe I was mistaken, but it literally sounded like it was intended to be Azel.
Yep, you’re quite right - that is indeed the voice actor listed for Azel in the PDO credits. So much for that theory then
I’m still not quite sure what to make of the whole System’s voice / Azel’s voice thing, though. The idea of the Sestren system somehow absorbing Azel’s voice seems a bit odd, what with it never being commented upon or elaborated upon within the game. I’m still tempted to believe that Azel just had a standard voice that the Ancients gave to many of their creations.
After all, all pure-type monsters of a given type look exactly the same, and all of those ruins in Panzer Dragoon Saga communicated with exactly the same voice. It’s possible that many other Drones would have both looked and spoke exactly like Azel, and that the Sestren system was given this standard voice also.
But, again, in PDS Sestren sounds different so if the reason for the voice was that it was a “standard” voice type they gave to everyone, why would it change from PDS to PDO?
Remember that we never actually heard the Sestren System’s voice in PDS: the only thing we heard speaking was what we call the “Sestren AI”. That AI was evidently an independant entity within the system, much like the Heresy Program during its brief stay there; or like any of the other conscious programs that we see in the System in PDO.
The female voice I’m referring to is the one that says things like:
System: “An unrecorded presence has been detected in the system.”
… while you’re in the Sestren System in PDO. That can’t be the old Sestren AI, as that entity was definitely destroyed at the end of PDS. (That’s what allowed the Heresy Program to take its place, which in turn allowed the Divine Visitor to deactivate the Heresy Program to shut off the Tower netwrok, etc.)
The System was evidently seperate from this AI, as it has outlived it: it’s the System’s voice that I’m talking about.
How do you know it was the Sestren entity? We never hear it speak do we? (maybe we do in the ending of PDS, I don’t remember) All the stuff we here comes from ruins and such about activations etc doesn’t it? Like in the intro of PD1 talking about the D-Units? Why would that be “THE” Sestren and not the Sestren system? I’d think it’s more likely it was the system rather than Sestren broadcasting it’s voice like that…
The thing we call the “Sestren AI” definitely does talk to you at great length in PDS… there’s the monologue just before the final battle, and a lot of speech during the Memory Orbs, too. We never hear the Sestren System speak in PDS, however: the AI’s voice is the only one we hear while inside the System.
I think you’re missing my point. I’m not saying that those voices are either the Sestren AI or the system: they just seem to be (automatic) voices associated with the ruins themselves.
(Except for the PD1 Tower example, which probably was the voice of the Sestren AI being transmitted out. We hear that message again when watching the AI’s memory orbs at the end of Saga, after all, and all of the other speech in those orbs definitely belongs to the AI.)
My point was that, when we enter the Sestren System in PDS, the Sestren AI’s voice is clearly the only one we hear. But that cannot be the voice of the Sestren System that we hear in PDO: the Sestren AI is dead by then, and the Sestren System is clearly a seperate thing. Its voice is just an automatic voice, like what we hear in the ruins throughout both games - and it also happens to be the same as Azel’s. I hope you see what I’m getting at, now…
