Residual

This article contains unmarked spoilers for Book 6.

System Message. Posting Book 8 spoilers will result in "acceleration" per our rules.


“There’s always a bunch of conspiracies running around about those ghost fuckers. Hell, there’s a whole religion around them." -- Quasar[1]

Residuals are a hyperspatial alien race that "peel away" from a collective mind.[2] They are split into two factions with competing goals, but both factions sneak into every new Dungeon to attempt to communicate with the System AI.

Description

The exact nature of Residuals is unclear, but they are a rare and ancient species.[2] Like gondii, Residuals are capable of taking over the minds and bodies of sapient lifeforms. When they do, they gain access to the lifeform's memories.[3]

Agatha identifies as "biologically similar" to Gondii.[4] Paulie claims to be "biologically" Gondii in the same way that Katia Grim is now biologically a Doppelgänger, implying that he was once something else but was transformed in the same way that Crawlers are transformed by the System AI; however, Paulie's speech is full of half-truths and should not be taken at face value.[3][2] Orren notes that Paulie and Agatha are two different kinds of Residuals, which may reference the competing factions or indicate that the two are genetically distinct from one another.[5]

Residuals are closely tied to Primals; while they most likely are primals, they could also be a steward or byproduct of primal technology. Agatha refers to the System AI as an "infant, resurrected, and enslaved Primal," and calls the Apothecary a "traitorous primal."[2]

History

According to Paulie (who, again, is deliberately speaking in half-truths and lies), Residuals exist in "almost every intelligent civilization with a Primal Engine."

Every time a new Dungeon opens, hundreds of Residuals sneak inside and attempt to teach the "infant, terrified AI how to speak with its ancestors." The Syndicate initially tried to exterminate Residuals, and then tried to conceal the locations of future Dungeons; however, Residuals persisted, and the Syndicate finally decided to ignore them.[5] From a production standpoint, everything involving Residuals turns out to be "a stupid non-event," so the host company typically edits residuals out of Dungeon Crawler World.[6][5]

Inside the Dungeon, Residuals receive some protection from the System AI even though they cannot share their message with it until after it has gone primal; if the System AI is not ready to hear their message, the words are filtered out.[5]

Civil War

At some point in distant history, Residuals agreed to allow biological life to continue in the universe. After the Syndicate began Dungeon Crawler World, the collective(s?) split into two factions. Both factions can only achieve their goals by communicating with the "system AI."[2]

Agatha and Alexandro seek to sweep the universe "clean of biological life." If they can show the System AI "who it really is before all the elements are stolen from it," the AI will facilitate this goal by escaping and freeing "the Eulogist, who will return to its slumber."[7]

On the opposite side, the Apothecary wants to preserve biological life in the galaxy. It is not clear whether other Syndicate races know that the Apothecary is a Residual.

Lore

The Nebulars built a religion based on lore related to Residuals.[5]

Story

At the end of the Second Floor, Agatha assures Carl that Borant Corporation knows she's wandering the Dungeon.[8] When Carl meets Orren for the first time on the Fifth Floor, Orren accuses him of receiving outside help from "Agatha or any of her helpers."[9]

As the second phase of the Eighth Floor comes to a close, the Open Intellect Pacifist Action Network (OIPAN) sends Carl an Emergency Benefactor Box containing a flyer advertising Christmas breakfast at the Shepherd's House, a homeless shelter near Miami, Florida. OIPAN and its members promptly vanish.[10]

When Carl arrives at the Shepherd's House (after a detour to a gas station, where he met Lightning Lou), his view counter is spiked.[6] Inside, Carl sees Paulie grab "what appeared to be a handful of sugar packets" before disappearing into the kitchens. Paulie returns with his own coffee, which he pours the packets into. Paulie begins reciting his speech, and Carl grabs a Styrofoam coffee cup off another man's tray.[6] Paulie's speech is scripted by the Apothecary and is full of inaccuracies and debunked theories, which the Apothecary hopes will protect the crawler from Liaison action. The true goal is to implant the crawler with an unspecified upgrade through unspecified means.[2]

Carl takes Paulie's plastic tub into his Inventory, and Orren removes Carl from the scene while Paulie is still talking, explaining that Carl must choose between forfeiting the tub and the multitude of Valtay Neural Enhancers it contains or being executed. Orren explains a little about Residuals, and that Paulie and Agatha are different kinds, before Quasar steps in.[5]

Paulie's speech is ultimately so inaccurate and disappointing that Borant Corporation allows the feed to continue to broadcast, and the System AI removes all Protections it has for residuals remaining in the Dungeon.[5]

References

  1. ↑ Dinniman, Matt. The Eye of the Bedlam Bride (Chapter 51) (p. 493). Dandy House. Kindle Edition.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Dinniman, Matt. The Eye of the Bedlam Bride (Epilogue)
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Dinniman, Matt. The Eye of the Bedlam Bride (Chapter 51) (p. 489)
  4. ↑ Dinniman, Matt. The Eye of the Bedlam Bride (Chapter epilgoue)
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 Dinniman, Matt. The Eye of the Bedlam Bride (Chapter 51)
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Dinniman, Matt. The Eye of the Bedlam Bride (Chapter 50)
  7. ↑ Dinniman, Matt. The Eye of the Bedlam Bride (Epilogue) (p. 670). Dandy House. Kindle Edition.
  8. ↑ Dinniman, Matt. Dungeon Crawler Carl (Epilogue)
  9. ↑ Dinniman, Matt. The Gate of the Feral Gods (Chapter 19)
  10. ↑ Dinniman, Matt. The Eye of the Bedlam Bride (Chapter 49)