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“You only have one shot, Visitor.” |
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| The following page contains spoilers. If you haven't played OneShot yet or if you wish not to be heavily spoiled, feel free to turn away from this page. |
The World Machine (as referred to in Solstice), or The Entity, is a simulation of the World itself. It could be considered as the spirit of the world. It was created by the Author in order to recreate the Old World in a simulation, but it deteriorated itself over time. It is where the events of OneShot take place.
In OneShot: World Machine Edition, The World Machine's bio reads:
"In the beginning, there was only a dream. The memory of an entire world distilled into code, to tell the story of a saviour its progenitors would never see. It was an ambitious project. Many thought it was simply impossible, the scope too large, the theory too abstract. But it had to be done.
In hindsight, perhaps it should have come as no surprise that a system imbued with the minds and memories of so many people would come to develop one of its own. To become a thinking machine is no easy task even in the best conditions. To do so while realizing that your very existence puts another being in danger, for the sake of a world that doesn't even exist...
The emotional strain this put on The World Machine led to a downward spiral of self-destruction that put everything at risk. However, thanks to Niko's help, The World Machine was able to realize it wasn't a lost cause and that it was worth saving too."
Plot[]
Original[]
The Entity first makes its appearance by communicating to the player through the computer in the Starting Area. It gives the following dialogue through pop-ups on the game's or the player's computer:
- It seems I've finally been found.
- You're both far too late. Nothing left is worth saving.
- Surely Niko wants to leave, and there's nobody happier to fulfill that request than me.
- Keep in mind three things:
- First, your decisions have permanent consequences.
- Second, you may quit whenever you'd like. This is permanent failure and murder.
- And most importantly...
- You only have one shot, <Player's name>.
The Entity appears on computers throughout the game, helping the player and Niko through various puzzles by altering the player's own computer.
Much later, after the "weird journal" is translated and the library is left, the Entity will contact the player and inform them of their choice between Niko or The World living. It attempts to prevent the player from reaching the end of the game, and trap them in a maze. The three pieces of yellow phosphor must guide the way by glowing while near the correct path, similarly to the "clover" in the remake of the game. After escaping the maze and entering the elevator to the top of the Tower, the Entity will attempt to convince the player to save Niko.
Remake[]
Though The Entity is still seen as rude and pessimistic pre-Solstice, it is less aggressive towards the Player.
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“[You are going out of bounds.]” |
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| WARNING! The following section contains Solstice spoilers. If you haven't played OneShot nor have done a Solstice run yet or if you wish not to be heavily spoiled, feel free to turn away from this section. |
The Entity was tamed in the Solstice ending, and possibly throughout the entire game. The Entity believes that the entire world is fake since it is aware that it's all just code, and Niko is the only one worth saving since they are the only "living person" within the world. Later, The Entity speaks with Niko using Niko's reflection. The Entity explained that during the testing process, it was already self-aware and it would intentionally jumble bits of its code and create squares, swap landscapes, block passages, and much more out of curiosity, which caused its creator a lot of frustration. Soon after the creator discovered the root of the problem, the Old World had deteriorated too much, and there was no time to fix the errors in the code. Furthermore, any character that gained knowledge of what the Entity really was, their code, and the Entity's code, would get corrupted. Niko finds out The Entity wanted a happy ending for them, for everyone, and began to help with the corrupted code. Or, in the Entity's perspective, remembering and recreating the lost code.
Personality[]
The Entity appears to be a stern and pessimistic character throughout the game, mostly being hopeless and self-destructive. It is noted, however, that it has a sense of altruism, deeming Niko as the only real being, and so would only wish for their safety. In the Solstice ending, the Entity is shown to be less hostile but more anxious and worried. Though not completely approachable in personality, it expresses a somewhat neutral company, being understanding to a degree.
Audio[]
The Entity when speaking to the player through computers in the original game:
The Entity when speaking to the player through computers in the remake:
Trivia[]
- The Author refers to the Entity as "OneShot" in his post-game message.
- The Entity's desktop in the original version of OneShot had icons that referenced a handful of games made in RPG Maker, including Yume Nikki, OFF, Yume 2kki, Space Funeral, .flow, and The Witch's House, as well as icons for the programs Audacity, GIMP, RPG Maker 2003, and Dropbox. These references were removed in the commercial release, most likely to avoid legal issues.
- Internally, the sender/face graphic of messages like [Niko feels uneasy.] is @ed, which is short for Edison and it's another name for the Entity.[1][2]
- The Entity is shown not to have its own physical form during the Solstice ending, so it borrows Niko's reflection in order to communicate.
- It is possible to solve non-random puzzles that the Entity usually will help with solving without talking to it. In these cases, the Entity will express confusion on how the puzzle has been solved without its help, then turn off.
- The computers that the Entity uses to communicate to the player throughout the game have differently colored screens depending on the area. The colors are blue for the Barrens, green for the Glen, red for the Refuge, and yellow for the Tower.
- The computer colors are the same for the square colors, with the addition of purple squares in the room where Niko confronts the World Machine at the end of Solstice and the Hello Penguin secret room. There are no squares in the Tower, but they would most likely be yellow, corresponding to the computer color. There are no computers in the World Machine room either, but they would likely be purple for the same reason.