Who is the "He" that Encephalon keeps mentioning?

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Who is the "He" that Encephalon keeps mentioning?

Post by CountDOOMDestroyer »

seriously i thought somebody would figure this out already and i have been going nuts looking through all three games to find out who "he" is. even the npc Nuada doesnt kno!! and he knos just about everything! except about gu and avatars and aida of course... still... i just really wanna find out
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Re: Who is the "He" that Encephalon keeps mentioning?

Post by TheSorrow »

I've always thought that it was some kind of imaginary friend Encephalon had, or some NPC like the ones found in Netslum.
That's one of the PC's mysteries i couldn't ever find a direct answer to it. I guess he wasn't mentioned much in Redemption though, because, for some reason, i forgot all about it and focused on Nuada instead XD
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Re: Who is the "He" that Encephalon keeps mentioning?

Post by CountDOOMDestroyer »

yeah nuada sure does like telling the same friggin secrets over and over. he says that he doesnt kno who it is in the second one, my guess is cuz so many ppl wanted to kno from the first one. (holy crapshizzles i sounded smart lol) i think that there is some1 who found out who "he" is and i wanna find him!! or her... either way. i wanna kno. its some1 he goes adventuring with i kno that. he kinda says so... im not sure which game tho ^^;
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Re: Who is the "He" that Encephalon keeps mentioning?

Post by Master ZED »

Here's all of Encephalon's text from Redemption, in case anyone wants a refresher. There's also some Battle Area text I don't ever recall seeing, but maybe I'm just dumb right now. I won't make my guess public since I tend to infuriate people with my perspective:

Hey. If you hear any interesting rumors, could you fill me in? "He" and I are kind of bored.

Some people say that AI is just a clump of data, but I don't agree.
For example, there's a rumor that the online crisis 7 years ago was started by an AI's rebellion.
This is only a rumor. But, I find it awfully real.

There are two rules to urban legends.
One, it must be a groundless rumor with no certainty. Two, its origins must be untraceable.
However, the rumor from 7 years ago follows neither of those rules. It's just as if it really happened.
If that rumor were true...Can we really consider AI to be just a clump of data?
A new neighbor with the power to rule the world of computers. Perhaps that is what AI really is.
Perhaps my idea is too offbeat. And yet... Ever since that server incident, there have been a lot of suspicious rumors about "The World". There's no change to the black dot and white girl rumors, but the comatose rumors are spreading fast.

Even players who aren't interested in rumors have been talking about them. Something has changed in "The World" since that day.
Or maybe something that stopped has started again.
It almost seems to me like the continuation of what happened 7 years ago.
What on earth could be hiding in this world... I'd love to find out.
Well, until I hear back from Nuada, I may as well
keep my ears open together with "him".

If you ever hear any interesting rumors, try thinking about what they mean.
It's much faster to unravel a rumor than it is to peruse 1000 books in order to find the truth.
Which would you believe, something that you see in front of you, or something that you cannot see? There are a lot of things you can see, but there's even more that you cannot see.

If you don't believe that existence, it means that you believe it doesn't exist, of course.
But it doesn't mean that something that doesn't exist would affect you in one way or another.
For example, obeying a jinx that you don't believe in.
For example, a ghostly phenomenon that turns all your lights on as a product of your fear.
Do you get it? Even if you deny the existence because you don't believe in it, you cannot run
away from it as long as that existence is real. Rumors are also something that you cannot see.
However, rumors bind a person, and it attracts a person as well. Just you watch.

The fate of people who are manipulated by rumors.
I'm watching it myself, of course. Along with "him".

Very well. I will comply.

Sorry, but I can't comply with that.

I'm terribly sorry, but could you help me out? Please.

Sorry for taking up your time. This is a gift...from both me and "him." Please accept it.

Sorry to bother you again. It looks like you are a good person. "He" says the same thing.

Here begins the outflow. I guess the PK tournament triggered it...

Although it cannot be avoided, it's sad to see familiar faces fade away.
But, there's nothing you can do about it. This is what everyone decided on.

Creating this "world", blowing up this rumor, people are what triggered the outflow.
There is no such thing as something that man created that cannot be broken. Then this must be fate.
...Although it's a bit unacceptable.

But there's something that bothers me. Will you hear me out?
People are flowing out of this "world", that's a fact. But the number of people, it's definitely less than in past cases.
Something that only this "world" has... What can that be?

The login population has greatly decreased... I guess it couldn't be stopped. "He" is telling me.
As I will eventually face my end, this world will come to an end as well. As other stories have their ending,
the story of this world is nearing its conclusion.

...You have interest in "him"?
There is no story that would interest you about me or "him".
But if you still insist on hearing "his" story,
then I shall answer this.
"He" and I share our fate, and, "he" declares my end.

You seem puzzled... Of course, I don't think you'd understand yet.
However, "he" will visit you soon enough. You, and others as well.
"He" will visit everyone equally. It just so happened that it was my turn.

The login population has greatly decreased... It seems faster than the other cases...
There are many differences between "The World" and other online games. That is evident.

If it's rare that an online game would be infested with so many rumors, then it is rare that an online game would trigger incidents that prove it.

From my analysis, I can only say that there is something in "The World".
But I wonder if such a thing is real. Something outside of parameters, something that cannot be controlled by anyone.
An online game that has such a thing... It's Sci-Fi, I tell you.

But it's evident that data is showing something. There is "something" in this world.
We don't know what that "something" is. However, I shall find out eventually. I will uncover this world's secrets to the light of day.

(apologies for the spacing, I kinda made it up on the fly)
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Re: Who is the "He" that Encephalon keeps mentioning?

Post by AuraTwilight »

I always thought it was pretty obvious that Encephalon was friends with Rumor.
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Re: Who is the "He" that Encephalon keeps mentioning?

Post by Satoh »

AuraTwilight wrote:I always thought it was pretty obvious that Encephalon was friends with Rumor.
That AI was deleted wasn't it? I may have to dig out my AI Buster 2....

EDIT: I take it back, deleted data isn't removed from HDDs, rather, the pointers to it are removed, which is how deleted data is salvaged in netslum... so it could have been restored there.

I always took it for granted that he meant Nuada... but I don't remember why, thinking about it objectively nuada could be "him"
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Re: Who is the "He" that Encephalon keeps mentioning?

Post by TheSorrow »

There's also some Battle Area text I don't ever recall seeing, but maybe I'm just dumb right now.
We're both dumb then, because i never even recall saving Encephalon in a Battle Area. And given the character he is and the text said, i'm really sure i would remember that if it ever happened...but, it didn't XD I easily remember the "comply" part though...for some reason, i traded with him alot.

Well, if there's something he sure repeats alot, is the word "Rumor", said 18 times in your post. I think the most important part of all that is this:
The login population has greatly decreased... I guess it couldn't be stopped. "He" is telling me.
As I will eventually face my end, this world will come to an end as well. As other stories have their ending,
the story of this world is nearing its conclusion.

...You have interest in "him"?
There is no story that would interest you about me or "him".
But if you still insist on hearing "his" story,
then I shall answer this.
"He" and I share our fate, and, "he" declares my end.

You seem puzzled... Of course, I don't think you'd understand yet.
However, "he" will visit you soon enough. You, and others as well.
"He" will visit everyone equally. It just so happened that it was my turn.
Sounds like an AI indeed, but some parts somewhat hint that Encephalon could be an AI himself too (or else he's just being quite too poetic while talking about his PC self). Either way, sounds way too huge to simply be a little imaginary friend. Makes me think for some reason that maybe such "he" doesn't have any physical form and is just some voice Encephalon can hear (and maybe see somehow) inside The World, but in such case, it has to be an AI.

I'm sure there's more information about Encephalon and "he" in forum posts, though you can't find those by the game's text found in such file (it's in another file and i could never see it clearly XP), so one of us would have to go check the forum posts to see what we can find. One thing i sure remember though, is that at the end of some rant, he was going to go sleep with "him" >~>
~I always took it for granted that he meant Nuada... but I don't remember why, thinking about it objectively nuada could be "him"
Not Nuada, because he refers to Nuada as just that, Nuada, while that other thing is always referred as "him". Plus, Nuada has said more than once that's he's curious about who "he" really is, and just considers it as a "he" too, a "he" unknown for him and someone who has to be definetly not Nuada himself.
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Re: Who is the "He" that Encephalon keeps mentioning?

Post by Keyaki »

Satoh wrote:
AuraTwilight wrote:I always thought it was pretty obvious that Encephalon was friends with Rumor.
That AI was deleted wasn't it? I may have to dig out my AI Buster 2....

EDIT: I take it back, deleted data isn't removed from HDDs, rather, the pointers to it are removed, which is how deleted data is salvaged in netslum... so it could have been restored there.
Even though thats very plausible

It's not like the come back exactly how there were before, maybe except for Zefie

I chuckle at the thought of him getting PK'd in The World R:2, since he would look like a feeble Shadow Warlock
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Re: Who is the "He" that Encephalon keeps mentioning?

Post by Satoh »

Keyaki wrote:
Satoh wrote:
AuraTwilight wrote:I always thought it was pretty obvious that Encephalon was friends with Rumor.
That AI was deleted wasn't it? I may have to dig out my AI Buster 2....

EDIT: I take it back, deleted data isn't removed from HDDs, rather, the pointers to it are removed, which is how deleted data is salvaged in netslum... so it could have been restored there.
Even though thats very plausible

It's not like the come back exactly how there were before, maybe except for Zefie

I chuckle at the thought of him getting PK'd in The World R:2, since he would look like a feeble Shadow Warlock

One thing I've seen a lot on the majority of .hack discussions is the unfounded belief that AI's can't exist outside 「The World」. While they are only SEEN there usually, Nuada is likely an AI and posts on the forums.

Aura sent emails.
Many believe Zelkova is an AI and he obviously posts to forums and sends emails.

Rumor could very well be an external AI as well, if he was restored with Helba's help.

Cubia is an AI and spread throughout the entire internet.
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Re: Who is the "He" that Encephalon keeps mentioning?

Post by Keyaki »

Cubia's not really an "AI" persay
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Re: Who is the "He" that Encephalon keeps mentioning?

Post by Satoh »

Keyaki wrote:Cubia's not really an "AI" persay
On some level it has to be in order to act autonomously.

But we can ignore cubia for the purposes of this discussion in that case...
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Re: Who is the "He" that Encephalon keeps mentioning?

Post by Keyaki »

Satoh wrote:
Keyaki wrote:Cubia's not really an "AI" persay
On some level it has to be in order to act autonomously.

But we can ignore cubia for the purposes of this discussion in that case...

I guess.......in terms of data
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Re: Who is the "He" that Encephalon keeps mentioning?

Post by Master ZED »

AuraTwilight wrote:I always thought it was pretty obvious that Encephalon was friends with Rumor.
I'm not sure how you could come to that conclusion given the last hints Encephalon gives... but otherwise yeah, it's credible enough.

Me, I may as well say it; I once had a theory before learning about Balbol Museum that AIDA, at least corrupt AIDA, had a collective conscious that could be accessed as a sort of intranet within The World by <Tri-Edge>, given the corruption began with it as it spawned all of the corrupted (AFAIK). Ovan seemed to know everything as it happened because corrupt AIDA were made to work for him as a sort of spy network. This conflicts with Atoli's hearing, but then, how exactly her hearing works is never explained either, so I wrote it off as her hearing the disturbance AIDA's presence creates.

Then I found out about the museum and scrapped that theory entirely.

However, I tend to think Encephalon had an AIDA working for him anyway. Not a corrupt one, obviously, but an AIDA nonetheless. His last hint does point toward the fact that AIDA of both kinds have infected more players than anyone knows about, and that it may actually be more likely than not that a person will encounter AIDA some time on their journeys in The World. His battle quotes even hint that "he" is always with Encephalon in The World, and there are only two types of entities that work like that.

Hell, maybe I'm dead wrong and Rumor's an "Epitaph" now. All "Epitaph Users" are are PC's that can summon AI counterparts, after all. Epitaph User and AIDA-PC simply refer to different types of summoners (those who summon The World's entities and those who unleash mistakes).

And Satoh's right about AI's existing outside The World, as AIDA has infected other games as well. In the thread "Chain mail?" on the Rumor board, Encephalon makes a pretty long post (60 WPM typing skill, make this quick will ya):
Encephalon wrote:If you all don't mind, I will take it upon myself to add to this discussion I have been conducting an investigation together with Nuada, the results of which I have listed below. I think you will find this a story of some very interesting phenomena.

The first time I saw this kind of chain mail was approximately several months ago. This was just about the time the first "The World" black dot rumors began to spread.

It always starts with reports of a bug,
Someone meets an odd NPC.
Next they see a strange monster.
Then some kind of black effect...

Chain mail of this sort starts to spread as early as a week, 3 weeks at the latest since the rumor appears.
(It is also interesting to note that people start posting missing player threads at around the same time.)

About 3 weeks after these kinds of chain mails have appeared, this phenomena reaches a kind of finale (I'm still not sure whether or not this is the best phrase to use for this...). Players begin to quit the online game named in the e-mails in massive numbers, and everything calms down (specifically around the time the number of players for a game becomes half of what it was before).

Even after things have settled down for this game, it never lasts much longer after having lost so many players. Thanks to this depopulation effect, the players that still remain begin to interact with each other less and less, which leads to even more of them quitting. The company that manages the game loses most of its income, and the game is essentially forced to shut down for good.

By my personal count, this has happened to no less then (sic) 4 online games. If you count the games that we are still investigating, that number rises to 7.

Although the truth is still hidden in darkness, I plan to continue my investigation, together with Nuada and "him", for as long as it takes.
Nuada even says that "The World" is special because it appears someone is trying to stop what's happened to the other games.

Oh, and as for the post Sorrow mentions, the post in particular is at the end of the thread "Black Point" in Rebirth (or your Rumor board archives if you converted):
Encephalon wrote:Names: most common is black dots. After that, we have black windows, and black doors.

Rumor pattern: first stage is the actual contact with the dots. The second stage is the occurrence of harm.
Ex:
1. Being PKed by Tri-Edge
2. Your real life self and your game character switch places
However, there are also rumors where non-harmful phenomena have been said to occur (meeting a deceased friend/relative, etc) in the second stage.

The rumor of the black dots themselves also causing harm is something that came up recently. The ones who started those rumors are the younger generation of players in "The World."

It may not be much, but this is about all I know for now. I await further information.

...Perhaps it's because I rushed, but I'm rather tired. I'm going to sleep along with "him" for a bit. Later.
The lack of punctuation makes it look dirty, but really, it doesn't look like the two are separable.
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Re: Who is the "He" that Encephalon keeps mentioning?

Post by Satoh »

it could simply be an imaginary persona of his own. Someone with a different opinion but existing within him... an Id of sorts perhaps.
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Re: Who is the "He" that Encephalon keeps mentioning?

Post by AuraTwilight »

That AI was deleted wasn't it? I may have to dig out my AI Buster 2....
Rumor was never deleted, you're thinking of Rin.
I'm not sure how you could come to that conclusion given the last hints Encephalon gives... but otherwise yeah, it's credible enough.
Encephalon continually speaks about AI's and rumors, and Rumor himself has a habit of visiting players, spreading rumors, and moving on. Pretty obvious.
Me, I may as well say it; I once had a theory before learning about Balbol Museum that AIDA, at least corrupt AIDA, had a collective conscious that could be accessed as a sort of intranet within The World by <Tri-Edge>, given the corruption began with it as it spawned all of the corrupted (AFAIK). Ovan seemed to know everything as it happened because corrupt AIDA were made to work for him as a sort of spy network. This conflicts with Atoli's hearing, but then, how exactly her hearing works is never explained either, so I wrote it off as her hearing the disturbance AIDA's presence creates.
The AIDA indeed have a collective consciousness, and to some level, infected players and Lost Ones can access it.

As for Atoli, she's apparently hearing the AIDA's "speech."
However, I tend to think Encephalon had an AIDA working for him anyway. Not a corrupt one, obviously, but an AIDA nonetheless. His last hint does point toward the fact that AIDA of both kinds have infected more players than anyone knows about, and that it may actually be more likely than not that a person will encounter AIDA some time on their journeys in The World. His battle quotes even hint that "he" is always with Encephalon in The World, and there are only two types of entities that work like that.
It doesn't seem like the non-corrupt AIDA infect players, but then we've only met one. I wouldn't dismiss the idea of Encephalon befriending an AIDA that wasn't infected by <Tri-Edge>'s influence.
Hell, maybe I'm dead wrong and Rumor's an "Epitaph" now. All "Epitaph Users" are are PC's that can summon AI counterparts, after all. Epitaph User and AIDA-PC simply refer to different types of summoners (those who summon The World's entities and those who unleash mistakes).
Rumor's not an aspect of Morganna, so he can't be a Morganna Factor, which is what Epitaphs are.
And Satoh's right about AI's existing outside The World, as AIDA has infected other games as well. In the thread "Chain mail?" on the Rumor board, Encephalon makes a pretty long post (60 WPM typing skill, make this quick will ya):
And Midori was born on a hospital computer.
it could simply be an imaginary persona of his own. Someone with a different opinion but existing within him... an Id of sorts perhaps.
A split personality can't take turns going from person to person like "he" can, nor can an alternate personality really tell you anything you didn't know before. Nor are alternate personalities aspects of one's psyche like an Id.
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Re: Who is the "He" that Encephalon keeps mentioning?

Post by Master ZED »

AuraTwilight wrote:Encephalon continually speaks about AI's and rumors, and Rumor himself has a habit of visiting players, spreading rumors, and moving on. Pretty obvious.
Yeah, that makes sense. I suppose I was thrown by the fact that, given Encephalon's hints, this would mean Rumor had willingly taken a more ethereal form this time instead of keeping his NPC body like the NetSlum folk. I guess he could have gotten bored with being "alive" and decided to see what being a ghost was like. Hell, we're all prone to sudden adventure from time to time. :)
AuraTwilight wrote:Rumor's not an aspect of Morganna, so he can't be a Morganna Factor, which is what Epitaphs are.
That's not exactly what I meant though, which is why I had Epitaph User in quotes. I simply have no clue what the term for "general AI summoner" would be in .hack terms, and to my knowledge, Rumor's not an AIDA of any kind. Epitaph User was simply the closest fit.

EDIT: It just hit me AT... why would Encephalon's "he" be a candidate for being Rumor, but not Nuada, who seems to hint at being an AI himself? Or was there just no reason to say anything about Nuada's identity in this topic?
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Re: Who is the "He" that Encephalon keeps mentioning?

Post by CountDOOMDestroyer »

maybe "he" is like Sakubo... maybe "he" is Encephalons "brother" like Saku is Bo's "sister". could that b a possibility? i think so. i also think that maybe encephalon is not talking about "him" but talking about himself. that might also b a possibilty. ugh i really wish somebody on this board worked for the ppl who thought up the game
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Re: Who is the "He" that Encephalon keeps mentioning?

Post by Sha »

CountDOOMDestroyer wrote:seriously i thought somebody would figure this out already and i have been going nuts looking through all three games to find out who "he" is. even the npc Nuada doesnt kno!! and he knos just about everything! except about gu and avatars and aida of course... still... i just really wanna find out
Hmm, for some reason I think that's ovan.
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Re: Who is the "He" that Encephalon keeps mentioning?

Post by TheSorrow »

maybe "he" is like Sakubo... maybe "he" is Encephalons "brother" like Saku is Bo's "sister"
Their "relation" seems way more than just multiple personalities or anything, as it seems that while they might both exist at once through the same character, they're 2 different "entities", can both interact at once (Saku and Bo can only do it with Gorre), and "he" definetly knows alot more than Encephalon.
i think so. i also think that maybe encephalon is not talking about "him" but talking about himself. that might also b a possibilty
He has referred to himself as merely himself, and to "him" as "him" and never as anything else but "he". Not a very likely possiblity.

The only possibility i see now is that is some AI that is attached to Encephalon's PC, or at least, has a deep connection with it. Could be a friendly AIDA, Rumor, or some other AI, but whoever it is, it really knows what it's talking about.
Hmm, for some reason I think that's ovan.
Doubt it. Encephalon and "him" had seem to be together since the beginning of Rebirth to the end of Redemption, and if it was Ovan, there would be times where "he" would be away, and act very differently than usual. Also, i don't see why Ovan would be going around debating and sharing rumors with pretty much a practically minor PC, that he couldn't really "use" for anything (as he used Sakaki), or win anything at all by such relationship.
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Re: Who is the "He" that Encephalon keeps mentioning?

Post by Sha »

TheSorrow wrote:
Hmm, for some reason I think that's ovan.
Doubt it. Encephalon and "him" had seem to be together since the beginning of Rebirth to the end of Redemption, and if it was Ovan, there would be times where "he" would be away, and act very differently than usual. Also, i don't see why Ovan would be going around debating and sharing rumors with pretty much a practically minor PC, that he couldn't really "use" for anything (as he used Sakaki), or win anything at all by such relationship.
have you watch .hack//Roots. From what I've learn in that, Ovan was the one that start the rumor about The Black Adept rouge, And My teory based on what he say to shino at Arche Koeln Waterfall about growing "a seed" (which is obviously mean "haseo" but I forgot what episode)

And don't you curious why haseo Avatar name is same with his PKK tittle name, Well ovan was behind that to.
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