Resigning SOMA

SOMA is a first person, puzzle solving, adventure, science fiction survival horror
indie game made by Frictional Games in 2015. Simon Jarrett, the protagonist of the
story, is involved in a car crash in Toronto, Canada leaving him with massive brain
damage. Given his poor condition, he agrees to have his brain scanned into a new kind
of neuropathic database called A.R.K.. Immediately after his scan, it seems as though
Simon has mysteriously woken up in an underwater research facility known as Pathos
II. It does not take Simon long to find out there are several robotic beings claiming to be
human running around all over this enormous facility. One of these robots is named
Catherine.
Catherine is one of the pioneers of project A.R.K.. The original Catherine is dead,
but Simon meets a robot claiming to be that same person. He trusts this robotic being
claiming to be her and takes her along with him on a mobile G.U.I. device because the
robotic figure she embodied upon their meeting was severely damaged. Simon learns
from Catherine that the world as he knew it had come to an end less than a month prior
from a massive meteor shower. For a time, Simon is convinced that he is the only real
human being left alive. He looks at his hands and a reflection in a mirror- he looks and
feels human.
As he makes his way through the facility with Catherine, he comes across a
pivotal moment in their journey when the walls of one of the facility chambers caves in,
and he is sucked out into the ocean. He wakes up on the ocean floor and surprisingly
isnt suffocating for air. Simon then learns that he too had died a month ago with the rest
of humanity and that the being he thought to be himself was really just a high tech

diving suit with his brain scan loaded up onto it from before the apocalypse. Catherine
had neglected to tell him this truth because he seemed so blissfully ignorant of that
reality.
At this moment, Catherine also reveals to Simon that the A.R.K. project was
meant to be a continuation of humanity. The brain scans would be uploaded onto the
A.R.K. console, containing an idealistic recreation of the world, where everyone who
was scanned would appear to live on as if nothing had changed for the rest of eternity.
The A.R.K. console. was supposed to be launched into space inside a rocket, but this
version of Catherine does not know if it was launched or not. The A.R.K. needed to
draw power from the sun in its satellite form if it were going to stay powered for more
than a few years at most. Catherine and Simon agree to make sure the A.R.K. was
launched, and they would make it happen if it had not yet been launched.
Throughout the game, Simon encounters many cyber-genetic beings known as
the W.A.U., or Warden Unit, that seem to be keeping the facility powered and
operational. It isnt until near the end of the game that Simon begins to hear voice
transmissions of a scientist named Johan Ross- one of Catherines coworkers that
wants to destroy the W.A.U.because he is convinced the W.A.U. are in some way
responsible for the end of humanity. Johan appears to Simon in the room containing the
heart of the W.A.U., telling him that he must destroy it in order to take revenge upon it
for supposedly ending humanity. Simon has neglected to tell Catherine about the
transmissions he has heard up until this point, and he cannot communicate with
Catherine at the time of this event, so it is up to Simon to choose who he believes. No
matter whether he chooses to destroy it or leave it alone, a giant fish swallows Johan,

and Simon is chased away. Simon then realizes that Johan was the one that uploaded
his brainscan into the diving suite at the beginning of the game with the intent of
destroying the W.A.U. However, if he had destroyed the W.A.U, then the facility's power
would fail, and the A.R.K. would cease to function.
At the end of the game, Simon and Catherine find Catherines dead body in the
room containing the rocket in which the A.R.K. was supposed to be launched. One of
her colleagues had murdered Catherine after a disagreement about whether or not to
launch the A.R.K.. Simon locates the A.R.K., places it in the rocket, and launches it into
outer space. Shortly before the launch, Simon expresses concern for how he and
Catherine will wind up on the A.R.K. too. Catherine promises him that she will upload
their scans as the A.R.K. launches. Soon after the A.R.K. is launched, the facility loses
all power, Catherine is suddenly gone, and Simon is left alone cursing the moment he
trusted Catherine. After the credits roll, Simon goes black due to loss of suit power and
wakes up on the A.R.K. where he is reunited with Catherine, both seeming to be in their
human bodies again in a place that resembles the Earth they once knew.
This story, although entirely fictional, could be resigned to exemplify both Jesus
sacrifice for us as well as the life, struggles, and salvation of Christians. Jesus gave
Himself up just to save us. He took upon Himself pain and suffering so we could be free
from Hell. Simon gave himself up, his brain scan, at the beginning of the game willingly
even though he did not have to do so. He gave his life within the diving suit in order to
save the remnants of humanity from fading away due to loss of power. Jesus, too, took
on a new body, becoming both fully human and remaining fully God in order to fulfill His
purpose on Earth. Jesus conquered the foul plans of Satan and even conquered death

itself. Simon overcame the misinformed desires of Johan Ross and, in a sense,
overcame death itself as well by launching the A.R.K. into space. Even though the game
maintains an Atheistic viewpoint, implying that science is the only way to save humanity,
Simon could also be seen as living the life of the average Christian with a bunch of
fancy Sci-Fi lore encompassing his story. Simon is just an average guy when, one day,
something terrible happens to him. Why do bad things happen to good people? He is
thrown into circumstances that dont seem to make logical sense and has a choice
whether or not to believe what Catherine is telling him. He cannot truly see Catherine,
like we cannot see God, but we must exercise faith just as he did and believe in what
we cannot see fully. Just because he cannot sense or understand the full extent of the
situation doesnt mean it is untrue. We must sometimes do things in life that we would
rather not do, make hard choices, like Simon does in choosing to take on the task of
saving humanity. There is no guarantee we will see the outcome of our actions. We,
much like Simon, are tempted with little voices in our heads telling us to do things that
seem contrary to Gods will and what the Bible says. Like Simon chose to ignore the
pleas and temptations of Johan, Christians must ignore the pleas of Satans
temptations. If he had listened to Johan, the A.R.K. would have been gone forever, and
if we listen to Satan and ignore Jesus, then we will be apart from Jesus for all of
eternity.There will surely be time where a Christian may question or even doubt God, as
Simon did when times came where he could not communicate with catherine and
especially at the end of the game, but those who believe in know Jesus will wake up in
Heaven once this life is over. Sometimes we must trust God and descend into the
deepest depths of the ocean in order to fulfill His will for our lives.

Interestingly, the word Soma means human or body in Greek. So, the
overarching philosophical question this game is trying to ask is what does it mean to be
human? If somehow science allowed for a similar situation where we could upload our
personas to robots, would they be considered human? Is our humanity derived from the
physical manifestation that is known as the body? Does it come from the
thoughts,feelings,emotions, and persona that is occupied by our mind? Does it come
from something else?
The answer one gives to these questions will likely give a fair glimpse into the
faith journey of the person in question. Modern secular psychology argues that we are
composed of both mind and body. Our biopsychosocial makeup is what makes us who
we are. The game itself is seemingly trying to argue that humanity is about more than
just this outside shell we call the body. It is about what we cannot see , and the visible
portion of ourselves is only a fraction of what a person is. Many such as Jews, Muslims,
and Christians alike believe that there is another component to our humanity- the soul.
The soul is the eternal part of the human being that goes on to live forever once the
body dies. The soul could be equivocal to the brain scans uploaded on to the A.R.K.including remnants of the human mind. Furthermore, a third view exists that some
Christians may claim to be truth. We are mind, body, soul, and spirit. The spirit refers to
the presence of the Holy Spirit manifested in the hearts of those who know Christ.
Those who believe this to be truth do not believe that the unsaved possess the Spirit
within themselves.
The game itself seems to argue for the former of the three options, but it does not
at any time directly discount the other views or explicitly state what it means to be

human. The developers and writers have left it up to the players to decide what they
believe. Simon and Catherine are, in effect, playing God by preserving and delaying the
fate of humanity. While this thought process implies they do not believe there to be a
Heaven, it certainly raises the issue in a way that is nonthreatening to those who do
not believe in Heaven or a Supreme Being. It may cause those who are unsure of what
they believe to look further into what it means to be human, raising questions about the
components of humanity as well as potentially deconstructing the components of the
game to point to the true Salvation story of the Biblical Narrative as done here.