Transistor - The Power and the Process

Spoiler Warning: This post will be heavily spoiling the back story to a fantastic game which is much better played without knowing anything about it. So if you have not yet played the game Transistor, then I implore you to turn back now and do so. The content of this video is for people who have either played the game or have no intention of ever doing so.

-----The 'explained' story of Transistor is further down the page. Begin with my first post on the philosophy of Cloudbank and  Who Is Red? Here.-----

     Transistor, unlike its spiritual predecessor Bastion, gives the player almost no narrative clarity as to the events throughout the game or the game's back story. In fact, where in Bastion what was happening was told by our narrator, voiced by Logan Cunningham, that same voice in Transistor knows as little as the player does. What is known has to be figured out, or inferred by the player and that kind of subtlety is rarely seen in games. The information, however, is all there and there are plenty of explanations given to things that seem to go unexplained weaved into the very fabric of the game. Due to the depth of story without much being told, however, what seems to have mostly cropped up in discussion of the game is the theory that the game's city of Cloudbank and all the inhabitants inside of it are actually virtual, therefore not real. While there is a fair amount of evidence for this idea, such as the name 'cloudbank' meaning a storage of virtual information and the Transistor represents those inhabitants being able to manipulate their own programming, I feel that this theory overshadows the story and events of the game.

     The thing about the virtual theory is that, true or not, it doesn't really matter. Descartes once made a similar suggestion about the real world, in thinking that what we sense and experience could be manipulations or a fake reality, so he reduced everything we fully 'know' to it's rawest form, and in doing so found that there is only one possible thing that must be true, and that is that we are thinking and therefore we exist. From here, many other things can be understood because there are only two possibilities that follow: either everything is real and we are not being manipulated, in which we carry on as normal, or we are being manipulated from outside influences, but we aren't to know that and we do have to survive in this world, real or not, so it doesn't matter. Overall, if Cloudbank is not real, even if the characters are programmed to act a certain way and have no free will – it makes utterly no difference, because the events of the game happen to us: the player. So, we can freely talk about the story under full assumption that it did happen and that it has an impact.

     What does appear to be real however, is the constant cycle of change that is apparent throughout the game.

     Let's say, for example, one day the people want a lovely bridge, so an architect designs a lovely bridge and a lovely bridge is constructed. Then a social commentator complains that there should not be a bridge there when there are poorer parts of the city with overflowing schools, so people agree on the polls and the bridge becomes a school very shortly after. Then people claim that there is no need for more education when there are not enough jobs for skilled workers, everyone agrees, and so the school becomes a factory, but then some years later, when society changes again, people whimsically desire that the spot would be a great spot for a lovely bridge, and it is made so. This kind of cyclical desire is apparent in all aspects of people's lives, and it is the very centre of Cloudbank's society. A society free to the whims of the people is somewhat of an ideal situation of democracy. Cloudbank, however, is also the epitome of a city in flux where everything is at the easily manipulated whims of the common populace. Everything in Cloudbank's life becomes fleeting and synthetic. So life in Cloudbank is in a constant state of change where people decide the changes and the changes get carried out in the background by The Process.

     The Process are a group of robots that nobody sees (likely due to hailing from a different 'dimension' - explainable by the virtual world theory) but everyone simply knows exists and takes for granted. People want that bridge turned into a school? The Process carry out the work. Need a skyscraper demolished? The Process can do that. Want the local park to just look a bit prettier? Consider it a blank canvas to The Process. They are unthinking, unfeeling beings bidden to the whims of the engineers such as Royce Brackett. I will discuss the different types of Process a little further on. So, with all the labour, creation, and menial jobs getting carried out by the process, that leaves a large amount of scope for people to do what they most desire. An example of this is Farrah Yon-Dale who learned to change the colour of the sky and so became a painter of it. Or Bailey Gilande who ended up as head of the city archives due to her excellent organisation skills and lack of social skills leaving her to enjoy the solitary work.

     The Process, then, are controlled robots of different kinds that do their work in the background. In the game of Transistor it becomes clear there is a malfunction and the Process appear to be recreating everything to the most basic state they can; which Red navigates throughout the game, seeing all of the different kinds of Process at work. Some examples of the Process and their purposes are as such: 'Fetch' are like guard dogs for any construction work happening, 'snapshot' take photos - either for reference or planning purposes, 'weed' and 'cheerleaders' repair and protect The Process respectively, while 'cluckers' and 'jerks' are used for destruction and flattening the ground. The stand out ones that do not appear to have an obvious purpose would me 'man' and 'young lady' which could be speculated to have been created by The Process for reasons we do not understand. While much of this can be marked as speculation, it fits into their purpose within the world so simply stands to reason. The Process however, as unthinking beings, have no real intention of harming people and destroying everything, however, something went wrong. What went wrong was the Camerata.

     The Camerata are a group of powerful individuals who desire to change the very foundations of Cloudbank to make it a more stable place rather than a cyclical city of flux. Their tag line 'Everything changes therefore nothing changes.” is a huge indicator that this limbo that has been created seems not to be a good thing to the Camerata. They are headed by people who understand the city better than the common people, or at least they think they do. As Cloudbank is supposedly an idyllic city, yet an underground resistance organisation had to be constructed in order to make any change happen, emphasises the huge faux pa to suggest any negativity with the way Cloudbank is. To even hint that Cloudbank is not great would be an insult to democracy itself and would suggest that people should not be in control. As a result the Camerata are essentially a resistance group of higher-ups rebelling against the people as oppose to the more common opposite situation. In essence, Cloudbank can be seen as a metaphor for people being so free that very few people can really afford to think for themselves, and this is what The Camerata are rebelling against (See my first post on the political philosophy of Cloudbank here). Where thinking for yourself can be dangerous, there are public figures who do the thinking for you such as Wave Tennigan a radio broadcaster, or Lillian Platt creator of the terminals, who both end up inside the Transistor.

-----What follows is a loose partly-speculative explanation of the story of Transistor: (Massive Spoiler Warning!)-----

     The story starts with Sybil Reisz of the Camerata hearing one of Red's songs at a concert and noting that Red appears to be unhappy with the way Cloudbank is in a similar way that The Camerata are. The Camerata are using the Transistor to absorb certain individuals that they think will be useful to use and recreate Cloudbank in a specialised vision resembling a messed up version of Meritocracy. Sybil's obsession with Red hit a peek when she noticed Red becoming more withdrawn from the limelight of fame and Sybil blamed this on one of her companions whom she did not know. It is then believed that, against the will of the rest of The Camerata, Sybill Reisz decided to absorb Red into The Transistor so her creativeness could be used and she couldn't be taken away from Sybil by this man. When she waited up after one of Red's concerts to carry out the task, she didn't count on the unknown man being there and Sybil accidentally absorbed him instead of Red.

     The problem was that he was an unknown - The Transistor could not handle this 'glitch' of an unrecorded person in Cloudbank and started to malfunction. Part of the result of this is the unknown man being able to talk through The Transistor and The Process breaking through to Cloudbank and recreating it like this blank slate of a man. Thus the events of Transistor begin. Red learns of The Camerata and what is happening throughout the game, and eventually decides to join the unknown man 'in the country' instead of using her new power and blank canvas to make Cloudbank anew.

Story and Philosophy of Transistor - Red's Place In Cloudbank

Spoiler Warning: The content of this article is for people who have either played the game or have no intention of ever doing so.

Philosophy in the footnotes.

     Transistor, more than most games, has a heavy emphasis on the soundtrack and how the music plays into the story. This seems to be a theme among Supergiant Games' creative style and the soundtrack is a much discussed part of their games. In Transistor this is particularly poignant as the music tells a meta-story that is subtly woven throughout the game. Another reason this is important is that at the beginning of Transistor, our main protagonist, Red, has had her voice stolen. This leaves the player to work out who Red is as a person by ourselves. Red, however, is a far from silent character, as rather than telling her story of via dialogue, she tells us through the game's soundtrack.

     Red is a very popular musician in her city of Cloudbank and the lyrical music in the soundtrack of the game is thought to be Red's music for a few main reasons. Firstly, specific songs play in sections where the lyrics become relevant, and the lyrical content of the songs speaks volumes about one female's feelings on Cloudbank. Furthermore, the player has ability to add to the non-vocal versions of the songs during the game by holding a button that lets Red stop and hum to the music. Red humming to the songs suggests she knows the music, and the voice of the hum and voice of the lyrics to the songs are both performed by the talented Ashley Barrett. In the calmer parts of the game it is a really nice but sobering feeling to just stop and hum; it also suggests a mix of Red missing her voice and her love of singing. She uses this as time for reflection, even when the world is literally falling down around her, which gives a bit of an insight to her personality. That we have the option to actively stop what we're doing and just listen to her hum, shows an emphasis on music that holds an underlying narrative to the story of Transistor.

     Let us step away from the meta storytelling for the moment, though. In order to understand Red we need to understand the situation she is in. To do that, we need to have a closer look at the city of Cloudbank. Cloudbank is in a permanent state of flux, with their democracy having progressed to a state that passers by on the street can use polling stations to vote on the daily, weekly, monthly issues. Anything can rise and fall by popular demand and with this freedom and idyllic society nobody is happy. [1]

     The cyclical nature of Cloudbank is referred to in Red's song 'In Circles' and these kinds of themes are the basis to her 'new set' that kick-starts the backstory to the game. The lack of happiness within this 'perfect democracy' is an important part of why Red is such a popular figure. With everyone being tracked in these polling machines and all of their decisions remembered, the entire city is part of a grid and anyone can be mapped. This can be seen with people's statistics inside the powerful mechanism and namesake of the game 'The Transistor', being carried by Red the entire game, into which people can be absorbed and their data used. The Transistor, being a key and a weapon and our catalyst to the events of the game, is capable of regurgitating all of the data that is being held on people. It is from the transistor we learn such things as 8% of people wearing the clothes of Maximilas Darzi, or exactly who voted on what colour Farra Yon-Dale should paint the sky next.

     Red hates the fact that she is logged more so than others. As a famous singer she keeps herself as private as she can, never truly wanting to reveal much about herself and states many of her reasons for doing the things she does as 'personal'. As part of her secret life, however, is one man in particular who Red is drawn to for being the way he is. The unknown voice inside The Transistor acts as our narrator through the game and seems to know as little as the player does, because, like the player, he is also not a part of Cloudbank. The unknown man lives off the grid, never votes in polls or gets logged, he keeps himself as secret as possible. This is both why the Transistor has no data on him and why Red is drawn to him, because in essence, he doesn't exist. He is not part of the system.

     One of Red's songs, 'Paper Boats', seems to be about her relationship with the unknown man. In the first verse and chorus of the song there are accompanying vocals by this character, which heavily suggests who the song is about. The song references how different they are in the world, with Red being such a widely seen public figure, and the unnamed man being unseen, and yet they have an almost magnetic attraction to each other. This is told in the lines such as 'The river always finds the sea.' or 'The earth and the moon' with one being bigger and yet still needing the smaller to function. This song, being such a personal one to her, also lets us in on her utmost desire – simply to move to the country. Her desire to move to a quiet place is also referenced in another song, which emphasises her desire not to be part of Cloutbank's system.

     Red's music, however, is not only personal to her, but some of her songs speak to the Cloudbank general public on a certain level. The populace of Cloudbank's unhappiness stems not only from the fact that they are logged, but also their pressure to conform. With the almost idyllic democratic state of Cloudbank being in a state that seems to be so free and open to everyone's ideas, they are are suffocated by their own freedom. To speak out against democracy or public opinion puts you in a controversial category, so while some choices are simply preference, there are other that are decided for you by public speakers. To speak against them will forever be remembered, so the majority pressures are high. People knowingly act in ways they don't want to because they are told to, and there is little they can do about it. [2]

     One of Red's songs 'Signals', tells this story about the society in general and suggests that Red is aware there are others like her who desire not to be a part of the system. The song emphasises her desire to break out of the system at any cost, with lines such as 'Take up the call and follow everybody, I won't be a number in the system', and perhaps more obviously 'We're all sending smoke signals, keep pretending we're one.' - with 'one' suggesting the way society acts in general with everyone following the crowd, but Red being aware that everyone sends signals to each other that everything is not okay. With lyrics such as these, it is easy to see why some may have found her music to be provocative in the game, and why she plays such an important role in Claoudbank.

     Another song, 'We All Become' focuses much more on the idea of everyone becoming one whole unit, and her defiance against that. The lyric that most emphasises this feeling is where she says 'Think I'll go where it suits me, moving out to the country, with everyone, before we all become one.' This leaves quite a big question about the world they live in. If she is famous, so has money, and wants to move away - why doesn't she? Well, something always stops her. Even when her voice is taken in the game and she has the chance to get out of the collapsing city, she turns around to seek out those who took her voice. [3]

     While Red never intended to be controversial with her music, it did cause a stir, and she became incredibly popular because of it. The suggestion is that there are many people to whom her music speaks, so even though they do not say it out loud, they are also unhappy with the way Cloudbank is. Red's place in Cloudbank, then, is not as a catalyst, but as an outlet to many people's inner thoughts, including her own. Yet, while she is aware of the reach of her music, Red remained mysterious, not willing to be a part of the hype and conflict. As The Transistor tells us: after an unspecified 'altercation' at one of her events she receded from the limelight in order to write new material, which we may infer to be the music that appears in the game. She apparently also refused to comment on the altercation and claimed she never intended to be controversial.

     Overall, Red's position in Cloudbank is both fortunate and unfortunate. She happened to be around at the time where collapse was imminent between the arrival of the Camerata and the cracks beginning to show in the public. Between her bold behaviour in writing controversial music and personal desire to stay mysterious and keep to herself, Red's entire story ended up being the beginning to the end of Cloudbank.

Footnotes:

1. French philosopher Emile Durkheim isolated five ideas as to why a better democracy leads to greater unhappiness. Some of these ideas involve that there is a large emphasis on the self not being part of a group, leading to more pressure and choice. Choices are bad, he claims as too much freedom leads to uncertainty and less people actually caring about how you live your life. Alongside this, our belief or ability to do or be what we want gives us excessive hope and big dreams, which largely leads to more disappointment. Democracy, he claims, also weakens notions like nation and family and religion to make people feel more alone with less structure in their lives. He wrote these things to explain why when things seem good, people seemed more wholly discontent.
2. This leads to people acting in what 20^th century philosopher Sartre calls 'bad faith'. Any time someone feels they should do something, or act in a certain way they feel they have to, is acting in bad faith. Bad faith, he claims is usually a product of a society shaping the ways people ideally should live their lives regardless of their preference, an example of this would be making girls wear pink, and boys blue – an arbitrary choice that many people live with in their thoughts because they are simply told it's what those colours represent. In many cases bad faith is harmful to the individual, especially so when, like In Cloudbank, people often must be knowingly acting in bad faith with little to do about it.
3. This rings true of another philosophical idea: Locke's soft-determinism. Simply put, we are all on a set path of restriction, even though we seem like we have free will. So, even if someone wanted to leave Cloudbank, they would likely be prevented from doing so one way or another. This idea is a harmful thought and perhaps one that is reminiscent of what it is like to live inside Cloudbank. This also plays into the theory that everything is simulated and programmed to stay. This idea is something I will be discussing on a further article.