“NieR: Automata”, the Alt-Right, Philosophical Dysphoria, and the Beauty of Humanity

The past few weeks of my life have been strange to say the least. The first oddity came from a school function landing me within the mountains of Jamaica, spending the next week learning much about myself and about how I feel for my fellow people in this world. The very next day after my return, I began to question the existence of hatred spanning across each individual human community. This is, obviously, not the most discernible problem, and as much as I’d like to pretend I found some form of answer to this equation, I really only scraped a bit of the surface. The question led me to the online forum discussions of the alt-right community, as no group of individuals in American society conjure hatred at the speed and consistency of this group. After spending almost two full days reading through different theories and ideas posed throughout the writings (none of which are peer-reviewed), I began an effort to comprehend why this existed, and why I did this in the first place. Such contemplation brought me to the realm of philosophy, a field of study I never truly attempted to dive into. It began with Marx and ultimately brought me into the field of humanism and applied ethics, and I’ve now gained a new outlet to implore my pursuit of knowledge. This all occurred within less than two weeks and it is extremely stressful and I highly recommend spreading out the revelations you have surrounding your perceived meaning of life in a more structured manner.

Through this all, I began to recall a story that dealt with many of the concepts I’d been browsing. A video game from game design visionary, Yoko Taro, and the focal point of this article, NieR: Automata. On the surface, NieR: Automata is a simple character action game taking influence from the schmup genre, creating a unique brand of high velocity action. But at the end of the day, it’s regarded more for the intense story and profound concepts it introduces to the medium. NieR: Automata is constantly pushing the capacity of gaming media to engage its audience in ways that can only be done through player interaction. But this isn’t a review of the game, nor is it a critique in the slightest. It’s simply a connection to the nuances of life and the human condition that I wasn’t able to make until over a year after playing it.

NieR: Automata tells the story of a coalition of androids whose primary objective is to return an Earth that has been mutilated by aliens and robots to it’s former glory. Humanity has been wiped out for the most part, with only a small base on the Moon holding the remaining survivors. You play as an android named 2B, a unit specializing in combat, with the assistance of 9S, who specializes in recon and hacking. The two end up confronting an Earth that has retained much of it’s natural beauty, and meet with large groups of robots which have achieved sentience and aim to find a different meaning to their existence. Throughout the rest of this article, I will be spoiling the ever-loving hell out of this game, so I wouldn’t read past this point if you’re interested in giving it a look.

For starters, Yoko Taro is an oddity of a man, and I mean this in the most endearing way possible. He has profound ideas of storytelling, and has been a trailblazer for interweaving game design concepts into story structure and vice versa. Not every idea he comes up with is genuinely the best, but he is steadfast against criticism, and never lets fear of disappointment keep him from forging his conceptions. In the game industry, this creative framework is rare. In the past, Yoko would not be able to get proper funding for the games he directed, landing with third-party development teams that received strict budgeting with no veteran talent to guide the way. Considering the precursor to NieR: Automata, simply titled NieR, was among these works, I think even Yoko was surprised at the chance to be expanding upon this franchise. This time, however, the game had stronger funding from publisher Square-Enix, and received a talented and acclaimed development team in PlatinumGames, leading to an unforeseen success both critically and commercially. Much of this success comes from the power of marketing and reception, sure, but I believe it owes much to just how adamant Yoko was with the messages he conveyed through the story.

NieR: Automata isn’t the most straightforward tale. It is split into three major sections, one of which is an altered retelling of the first section, and it allows the player to achieve a total of twenty-six possible endings. The kicker here is that four of the endings are canonical and don’t actually function as endings unless the player allows them to. There is one true ending, and believe me, we will discuss that, but the player will undoubtedly see a variety of endings on the way there. This plays a crucial role in the game’s themes, as it ascertains an understanding of what the end truly is and how that affects the way we react to real-world concepts.

Now, it should be noted that I am not a philosopher, nor am I someone decorated enough to be making any sort of call-to-action that may be implied through my writings. But as an observer, I will be making an effort to tie what I learned about alt-right ideology and philosophical exploration over the past couple of weeks to the narrative presented in NieR: Automata, and why it’s actually a pretty neat thing to find meaning in the things you love. So let’s dig into my experience as a spectator of the growing fascist manosphere known as the alt-right.

Sharper minds have accomplished the grueling task of sifting through the many ideologies at work within the alt-right community and debunking them using research-based evidence, so I will not be doing that here. Instead, I just want to try and put into perspective how disturbing the comments made can become when viewed by someone who may be gullible enough to find value in them. The alt-right is essentially an all-encompassing term applied to the swelling of white supremacy and antisemitism throughout white-dominated countries. Though racism and nationalism have been present since the dawn of time, the recent growth of the culture came seemingly out of nowhere due in part because of the anonymity provided by Internet-based forums and blind conservatism allowing for incompetent figures to achieve legislative power. The alt-right rose from the seedy underbellies of the Internet to the mainstream after various extroverted individuals began abusing free speech rights to feed on a public concerned for their traditional way of life. The growing tide of political correctness and fourth-wave feminism were of the most pressing matters facing Western culture (How many of those in the movement describe white culture), and the common individual, unaware of privileges they hold, began to resist the need for change that comes with such social growth. But resistance is both expected and understandable. When the structure of one’s life is challenged, it’s natural to feel attacked, as it would take an admission of past misdoings, signalling that the one being challenged is ignorant. But our culture has a nasty tendency to conflate ignorance and stupidity. So when someone’s ignorance is brought to attention, they may believe that a nonexistent stupidity is being addressed, and this will be personally offensive to most. So ideally, resistance will occur initially, but research and evidence will grow stronger to address why ideas are rational and scientifically valid, eventually resulting in said resistance waning to a point where there it has no control over activism or legislation.

But research has been done. It turns out white men hold inherent biases towards minorities. It turns out women are paid less than men are for the same job performance. It turns out gender is actually a social construct for which physical biology has no power to control. It turns out free access to health care and a wealth of other ideas employed by democratic socialist nations leads to a higher quality of life among citizens. It turns out discrimination on the basis of one’s healthy physical and mental composition is rampant in a country run by rich, geriatric, white, cisgendered men. So where’s the change?

It’s easy to write off the sluggish pace of progressive legislation as a result of our outdated legal system, which is an issue where I don’t have the worthy experience to discuss in an effective manner. But there have actually been effective stonewalls to societal growth for every inch of ground gained as a result of the general populace and the power we hold. Donald Trump’s eventual rise to the ultimate office of the U.S. government is the most obvious example to show what I mean by this. Trump isn’t the first person to spawn from the alt-right, but at least in the U.S., he served as a necessary catalyst for the community to latch onto and break into the mainstream. The ideology behind Trump’s campaign can be viewed differently based on who is asked to describe it, but it’s ultimately through a passion perpetuated by fear. As difficult as it is to admit, the core of Trump’s platform is one that truly addresses a problem many Americans face. The middle-class is facing serious disenfranchisement at the hands of the lawmakers elected in by the people. Trump also made the point of being a businessman rather than a politician, and you can’t really blame the middle-class for growing skeptic of career politicians, especially when up against a man who amassed a fortune through his wit in the business sector. Nevermind the fact that a country has many… fundamental differences from a business, and the fact that even if this weren’t the case, Trump has actually left a tumulus of failed business ventures throughout his career, owing his wealth mostly to inheritance and tax fraud.

But if Donald Trump had ran on these two very much true ideas (The middle-class is being erased and politicians are mostly kinda jerks) in a healthy and productive manner, he’d have been Bernie Sanders. Instead, Trump did what many of the most successful businessmen and politicians do to succeed. He coerced. Trump used these two platforms not as a means of empowering the American people to fight for their deserved rights, but as a means of convincing many citizens that they could not help themselves and needed some sort of savior in the form of a man who’s lived luxuriously by throwing bills at his problems. There’s a certain level of power a man has when he controls such a massive amount of wealth, and it is seen even in his ability to persuade, as we correlate wealth with success, and success with intelligence. Now, I’m not going to argue that Trump isn’t intelligent, because he was able to gain the highest position in the country for a reason, but I will say that Trump isn’t the greatest at critical thinking, at least when it comes to public declarations for what he can accomplish and the methods to which he will use. A good example is how he empowered many ignorant Americans by stating he would build a wall that Mexico would pay for, and is now appropriating those very people’s taxes on a wall most people have realized is a bit pointless.

When people view a person as successful, they suddenly feel that this person must know the keys to success, and Trump used this conclusion to instill enemies into the conservative base. The middle-class is being destroyed because of the Democratic party! The values of our Western culture are being trampled by feminists! Christians are being oppressed by gay and trans people! Non-white immigrants are violent and sexual deviants who aim to raze our lands and rape our women! These ideas are absurd to anyone willing to do a little bit of research and afford themselves a bit of open-mindedness, but they are slipping through the lips of a man who has succeeded at every facet of his life, so they believe every word and they fear every word. One of the most revolutionary horror writers of all time, H.P. Lovecraft, stated it best himself, “The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.” Trump played to the fears of his loyal fanbase. Fear that exists within everyone. The idea that our everyday lives can be disrupted by concepts we don’t truly understand is terrifying. But instead of churning this fear into a curiosity of comprehension, it was turned into a stubborn anger that insists we shouldn’t need to change our lives to meet the demands of others, no matter how small or how positive such a change may be.

This is how the alt-right as a whole functions. They treat foreign concepts and cultures as attacks on their own rather than approaching them with curiosity. When we feel we are being attacked, we become hostile and begin to fight against that which seeks to hurt us. Those who have achieved leadership status in the alt-right, such as Ben Shapiro and Richard Spencer, have developed a keen ability in shaping concepts of gender and race and the very existence of foreign culture to be a bane on American white male culture. Trump’s iconic, “Make America Great Again” phrase is dripping with victim complex, as it suggests we’ve been defeated and must come back from a premature grave.

But using fear as a means of inspiration is no new concept. After all, this is a philosophy employed by a majority of Americans through the religion of Christianity. Now, before I continue, I want to say that I love religion as a concept, and many of the Christians I know are amazing people. I find no reason to be bothered by where someone draws their strength and meaning from, so long as it is in a healthy manner. This is why I prefer to consider myself irreligious as opposed to atheist, as the latter has grown to become more consistent with the idea of outright denial of a God, while I simply choose not to follow the preachings of a religion, not paying mind to how other people go about their own beliefs. If you’re religious and reading this article, I want to immediately point out that I’m not necessarily directing these comments at you. However, Christianity is notorious for having a historical link to the use of fear to gather followers. To illustrate what I mean, let’s take a look at the famous philosophical construct of Pascal’s Wager:

To boil this down (significantly), Pascal states that there is no logical reason to not believe in God. We have no way of being able to know what awaits us after death, but in the instance of God’s teachings being true and following them, we are rewarded with eternal happiness. But if we decide not to follow the religious teachings of an existent God, we are punished with eternal hellfire. However, in the instance that there is no Christian God, there is nothing to gain or lose, as we simply cease to exist. Therefore, our belief in God is rationalized and justified. But this is not a healthy way to hold faith, as it reduces these beliefs to a fear of Hell rather than attunement with a higher power. Despite the many good things to come from those who find solace in their religion, there’s always a layer of fear that has at least some control over one’s actions. This is where many Christians will manage to succeed in achieving a healthy faith, as they can shape this fear into genuine curiosity and compassion for those they don’t truly understand. At the same time, loud segments of the faith will allow this fear to overcome their compassion, resulting in anger and hate, much like how the alt-right reacts to progressivism. Christianity is rooted deeply into Western culture, so it’s no real surprise that many of those within the alt-right consider themselves to be followers of Christ. This is because the same people who allowed fear to control their religion are the same people who are now allowing fear to control their political ideologies.

And really, it’s not just Christianity, that just happens to be an example that closely aligns to the alt-right for the sake of this observation. Every theistic religion is designed around a dichotomy of afterlife: Extreme pleasure versus extreme pain. So why do we allow such radical philosophy to dictate us? Well, religion is just that: A philosophy. And philosophy, as an area of study, seeks to examine our existence and find meaning in our lives. So when a philosophy that provides an answer in the form of an eternal paradise comes to fruition, it can be easy to find reason. But once we’ve found our own reason for living, what are we to do if that is challenged? Perhaps someone else has found reason for their existence through a philosophy that contradicts your own. What if that same person chooses to challenge you on your philosophy for which you’ve dedicated your entire life to? Suddenly, the primal fear resting within us is activated, and we know not how to control it. What if you are wrong about everything? If there is no afterlife to achieve, then what meaning is there in living the way you’ve chosen? This will, in most cases, result in anger that we choose to either suppress or act upon, as making the other person feel ashamed of their philosophy may bring some pride to your own.

So remember when this article was about NieR: Automata? Well, Yoko Taro actually does a brilliant job at assessing the creation of philosophy and etiology of hatred resulting from it. When 2B and 9S discover the remnants of our planet, they come into contact with automatons that have begun to imitate human life. These are machines created with the purpose of wiping out humanity, yet with all of humanity living away from the Earth, and the aliens which created them nowhere in sight, the robots are essentially living meaningless existences. Within the small world of NieR: Automata, we are shown a variety of different cultures created out of each automaton’s desire to find some reason to a life they didn’t choose to have. We see a community that has yet to develop the ability to think profoundly, and thus can only imitate what they have seen through records of the past. We see a group that has managed to form a small residential community, living peacefully under concepts forged under a philosophy of harmony. We see an isolated group living in an amusement park that blinds itself with optimism. We see a society that has rallied around the protection of a small robot they view as their king. And we see a congregation that found religion which would ultimately develop into a vicious cult.

Many works of fiction have attempted to tell the story of a non-human entity gaining human emotions, but fail to address the actual human condition in doing so. They exist as an attempt to suggest we show empathy toward thinking and feeling beings regardless of their biology, but considering we don’t even manage that among other humans, it’s an ambitious concept to say the least. Yoko Taro instead seeks to use this framing as a means of addressing humanity and understanding why we make the decisions we do. Understanding starts as primitive, as we cannot truly grasp actions and ideas we have never experienced. But sentient beings have the ability to build on this and grasp new concepts through sheer exploration. This is why we created philosophy, and why the robots of the game began studying it.

Rather than spend time to discuss the different ways in which the philosophies, or lack thereof, of each community are presented, I will elect to simply use one example that drives home the overall message of Yoko Taro’s narrative. Among the main NPCs of the game is Pascal (This name should ring a bell), who heads the small village of peaceful machines. Pascal has found meaning for his own existence through the aid of less educated beings, especially those who are childlike in nature. As the story progresses, the programming of some machines within Pascal’s village becomes corrupted, leading them to violently attack each other. Through your efforts, you manage to help Pascal at the very least rescue all the children of the village, allowing him to maintain a sense of reason. He shelters the children in an abandoned factory, but after receiving word that a large artillery of aggressive machines are approaching this area, the children grow fearful.

But here’s the primary difficulty with this situation: Robots aren’t human. Any intelligent being can imitate humanity, but when it comes to an innate emotion such as fear, there is no method of imitation that can truly achieve a guise of genuineness. It is previously explained that Pascal is engrossed in philosophy and the structure of the human consciousness. But he views natural human emotion much like he views the concepts he reads: As man-made constructions of the mind. This means he must teach his brethren how they should react to situations as humans naturally would, and among the emotions he taught was fear. But when he presented fear as a concept, he failed to understand how humans cope with fear through channeling it into other emotions. To echo the sentiments of Lovecraft, we can trace every instance of fear to that which is unknown. Someone with social anxiety may fear giving a speech in class, as they do not know if there will be a negative receptor in the audience. Someone may be afraid of flying in an airplane, because they don’t know if the flight will be free of any serious issue. Someone with a gun pointed to their head would fear death, as that is the ultimate unknown for all humans. But we have minds that can bury our fears beneath emotions that ignite from them. We give the speech because we want to pass the class, we fly because it’s a more efficient method of travel, and we hope, possibly even pray, for our survival in life-threatening situations, because we must have some reason to live. These reactions aren’t mechanical, but are the work of the resilient human mind.

The children, however, do have mechanical minds, and therefore have no outlet of coping with fear. They are consumed by it to an unbearable degree. After you and Pascal defeat the armament the children learned to fear, you return to find that they lay dormant, electing to take their lives as a means of escaping this fear. The children made the irrational decision of destroying themselves because they feared being destroyed. And this is where the game truly hits the illustration of the human condition. As a society, we are collectively destroying each other out of the fear of our society being destroyed. It is aimed to represent what can occur when we aren’t coping with our fear in a healthy and rational manner. The alt-right copes with fear by lashing out against minorities, women, and other disadvantaged populations, but it is important to illustrate that this itself creates fear among more progressive persons. And while the fear of the growing hatred found within the alt-right is a rational fear, we hardly create a healthier outlet for such fear. Much of this fear is used to fuel our hatred as well. Our society is slowly making an effort to erase the genuine emotions we hold by reacting on these artificial emotions we use to avoid feeling fear.

The rest of NieR: Automata does not bring this moment any solace. It is a strong critique of humanity and how we are ultimately destined to erase each other. 9S eventually learns the true fate of humanity: That the very creators he was designed to protect are extinct. There is no base on the moon, nor is there a plausible ending to the war against machines. 9S had his entire purpose stripped away from him, but found meaning through his love for 2B. But once 2B is killed by another android, named A2, he suddenly loses all purpose for which he felt he lived for. The fear of a truly empty life channels into an anger which consumes and controls him. In the end, we see 9S and A2 fighting each other as the last two sentient lifeforms in existence. And while the game asks you to pick between the two in order to reach a conclusion, both will result in each perishing together. A true finality to intelligent life. This is the result of the destructive power hatred has. In the real world, we see countless individuals being slaughtered not out of any true reason, but because we fear what challenges our livelihoods. In an effort to find meaning to our lives, we sacrifice that which we don’t agree with. And slowly we are desensitizing ourselves to these expressions of hatred. Shootings are tragedies that no longer feel shocking as they funnel through the news cycle, our government has been proven to be corrupt and abusive yet we decide to focus on body shaming a man who has many actually legitimate flaws as a leader and a human, and we allow pseudoscience to gain traction by fighting with insults rather than rationality. Hatred has become mainstream.

But I’m a pretty positive guy on the whole, and, surprisingly enough, Yoko Taro is as well! Currently I am pursuing a Masters in social work, so when I say that I truly believe there is good in the hearts of every human being, that just kinda comes with the territory. But let me explain some personal rationale! You see, up until a few years ago, I was fairly socially conservative. While I wasn’t at the level of those currently within the alt-right, I did have a complete inability to understand my white privilege, felt feminism was merely an attack on men rather than actually reasonable advocacy, thought gay and lesbian couples should be able to get married but didn’t need to be so vocal about it, and thought trans folk were simply doing it for attention. But if you haven’t been able to figure it out yet, let me alert to you that I am quite liberal. I recognize that part of my current passion for wanting to empower some populations is out of a semblance of guilt for how I felt previously, but I managed to adapt a genuine curiosity in these subjects, and with that curiosity came the natural joy that comes from learning new ideas. For much of my life, I let my fear take hold of how I viewed those with different experiences than I, and it resulted in a sense of entitlement I did not earn, as I looked down on those who had the audacity to fight for progress in a world I saw as perfectly fine. However, I didn’t let this fear keep it’s grip on me, and after I eventually realized the mistaken opinions I held, I did not let guilt overcome me. Instead of feeling sorry for myself and hoping I could simply forget of this era, I looked up research on the populations, I read articles discussing issues they face, I checked out opinion pieces from authors with these backgrounds, and I engrossed myself in media primarily created to empower these groups. After everything, I realized that through having an understanding of my privilege, I have attained the ability to reasonably advocate for my disenfranchised peers. The point I’m trying to make here is that, basically, humans aren’t robots.

But really, my point is that I allowed myself a way of seeing things in a different light. My brain wanted me to react to new situations and concepts immediately, but I was able to eventually tell my brain to relax and take in these new sensations carefully, and possibly try and figure out why what I’ve been doing is seen as problematic. And it’s great! When you actually allow your brain to use it’s innate strengths, the acquisition of knowledge can grow exciting! I illustrate my past as I am not a unique brand of person, and I feel my experiences can help to signal a beacon of hope in alleging that ignorance can be overcome. I credit my friends with helping me see my mistakes, and it wasn’t through them bashing my political views or insulting me for my failing to understand foreign concepts, but through a genuine concern I would leave a life of hatred and ignorance. What truly brought me out of that phase wasn’t the people who would debunk my thoughts and insult my intelligence, but the people who treated me like I was a person fully capable of understanding these concepts, and merely needed some gentle nudging in the right direction. And this, my dear friends, is what leads me into the final section of this thinkpiece.

The word I want to instill with you is this: Compassion.

You see, despite NieR: Automata pretty definitively ending with the loss of all intelligent life, there is a silver lining. Interestingly enough, the game itself reveals to you that it is a work of fiction, and that you have the power to make a difference. The player now has control of themselves, and must hijack the game’s credits sequence to destroy the very creators of the game in some last-ditch effort to find a happy ending. This is actually what happens. You are literally shooting down the names of every person who worked on the video game, while avoiding their efforts to shoot you down. It is strange, to say the least. Eventually, however, you get to the highest members of the development team. They are the ones who currently hold control over this world, and they are strong. You can make the effort of challenging these names alone, but it will almost surely result in being shot down. But after you get shot down, the game asks you a yes or no question, “Do you accept defeat?” As it asks this, a small message of encouragement scrawls across the blank black background. Not everyone will see the same message, but it will be positive. But obviously, after coming this far, you don’t want to accept defeat, so you say no, only to quickly be shot down yet again. The game asks, “Is it all pointless?” as a few more messages pop into visibility. You answer no, then fail again. “Do you think games are silly little things?” More words of encouragement begin to fill the screen. No. Again, you fail. “Do you admit there is no meaning to this world?” Text swathes the once blank screen. Everyone is rooting for you to succeed. They have no face, no voice, no gender, no sexual orientation, no level of income, no nationality, no political party, no special interests, no tangibility in the slightest. But they are words of compassion. You answer no yet again, only to be struck down immediately. This time, the game simply asks, “Give up here?” It has done everything in its power to break you down, but you have refused on the backs of all the other human beings that want you to succeed. These people whom you’ve never met and likely never will are doing everything in their power to keep your spirit thriving. You say no again, but this time, you are asked another question, “Rescue offer received. Accept offer?”

And this, my friends, is where the true brilliance of Yoko Taro’s masterwork is shown. Not in the intense philosophical narrative of the human condition, but by a simple series of questions that simply ask you to show faith in this world and those who inhabit it. The very moment you answer to receive the rescue offer, a choir begins to crescendo through the music. A choir composed of many languages to compliment the fittingly named Weight of the World track, as it truly takes the strength of the world to lift such a weight. You are then joined by six other players that both protect you and fight with you to change the scripted fate of this world. Suddenly, you have enough firepower to burn through the once impassable names, and when one of your brethren is shot down, another will selflessly take their place for the good of this mission. When you have finally taken out all of the rogue names, you are greeted to the flash of light and shown a world where 2B, 9S, and A2 retain their lives. What happens next is left to the player to decide.

When I first played this section, I cried. Any other time I’ve looked it up to relive the memory, I’ve cried. It is a game design concept that is implemented in a truly impactful way, and it serves to illustrate what truly drives us forward, and that is the natural compassion we have for our fellow man. The powers that be, whether they be great creators or powerful rulers, have created this fiction that we are merely cogs operating for them, with the only possible outcome being the total destruction of ourselves. But humanity is so much stronger than that. Even though we allow fear to overcome us, leading to violence and paranoia, we have brains that are malleable, and we can prevent these reactionary emotions from dictating our existence.

When I visited Jamaica, I wasn’t quite sure what I was aiming to get out of it. I was there for a school function of the social work program, and found myself assisting clients of all ages with varied mental and physical capabilities. America has many issues when it comes to how we treat the underprivileged and the disabled citizens of our country, but Jamaica is far harsher. I saw schoolchildren forced to learn in cramped rooms only separated by thin walls that failed to reach the ceiling. I visited an infirmary where dozens of handicapped adults and elders were crammed into small spaces with no element of privacy or respect. I saw people who struggled with psychological disorders hidden in the mountains and given limited care from the government, despite obvious cognitive strengths that display a functioning mind. But it isn’t the negativity that truly changed me, rather it was how compassion laced into this experience. As students, we worked with these clients at a small level, sometimes only capable of being able to devote our time and presence to them. But it didn’t matter that these acts seemed minor on the outset, as our clients expressed genuine happiness simply from having a stranger take the time to show them that they mattered. What seemed like a short activity in the day for me resulted in a wave of positive energy for the client, and this energy flowed all throughout the places we visited. These people were victim to harsh conditions that should have broken them, but they refuse to be broken, as the human heart is a powerful thing, and it can heal through the simple act of love for your fellow man. While on this trip, I felt I genuinely connected with individuals in a way that I never truly experienced prior. Everything I said and reacted to felt genuine, every interest I took grew more curious, and every action I performed felt like it truly had purpose, and this sensation can only be gained in an environment where human beings allow fear to buried under compassion.

After the game’s end card, you are asked to leave a message to players who will be going through the same experience you just had, explaining the text scrawled in the background from earlier. You are also asked if you’re willing to sacrifice your save data, the proof of everything you’ve accomplished throughout your journey, to help another player achieve a happier ending. It then becomes apparent why the help you received was truly monumental. You weren’t just saved by random people, you were saved by people who were willing to trade in the happy ending they worked hard to achieve all for the sake of a random person in this world to find their own. The game makes it abundantly clear that the person you’re helping is random, and it could even be someone you vehemently dislike. It’s a truly difficult decision to make, as you will have to begin everything from scratch if you want to replay, and the game understands why some would rather not participate. After all, it’s your data, and you have every right to control it how you please. But I personally elected to eliminate my data to help out someone in need.

The thing is, throughout this short and mildly confusing stretch of time, I’ve learned a lot about where I am in regards to the whole of the world. I’ve realized that I love people, and I love understanding what drives us individually. But I am honestly scared of the direction we’ve been heading in, because I genuinely can’t tell when the next massacre will strike or when the next fascist will rise to power or how the whole of my country will cope with the next social movement. But I know now more than ever that I cannot allow this fear to turn into hatred, and if that isn’t possible, I must learn to hate the idea rather than the person who believes it. So Donald, if you happened to receive help from RoboQuote in your game, I want you to know that I’m glad I helped you to achieve your happy ending, and I hope that seeing a single act of altruistic compassion had the same effect on you as it did on me.