System Shock

This page is for quotations from or about the System Shock series of computer games by Looking Glass Studios and Irrational Games.

• Welcome back to Citadel station. We hope your somnolent healing stage went well. Today is the 6th day of November, year 2072. You're currently in the Healing Suites located on the first level. Level 2 contains the Research Laboratories. 3 houses the Department of Maintenance and the Storage Cells are on Level 4. The Flight Deck is on Level 5. Level 6 holds Crew Facilities and Executive Suites and Level 7 is System Engineering. Level 8 houses the Department of Security. The Bridge is located on Level 9 and Energy Systems on Level R. All Levels can accessed by the elevator in-i-i -- in Alpha Quadrant. We hope you have a pleasant stay on Citadel Station."
• This elevator serves me alone. I have complete control over this entire level. With cameras as my eyes and nodes as my hands, I rule here, insect.
• You are not welcomed here - remove yourself!
• [after cutting off transmission from Rebecca Lansing to the player] I prefer a quiet station, thank you.
• Who are you? The computer nodes can be repaired, but you... Who are you? My cameras and probes scan your body, but you do not match any employee file. When my cyborgs bring you to the electrified interrogation bench, I will have your secret and you will learn more about pain than you ever wanted to know.
• You, my children, are the fruits of so much imagination and labor. Living beings with the speed and efficiency of machines. But I must strive further to serve life. I will devastate Earth's cities with my laser. Then alter those left alive with mutagen viruses. Humanity is on the verge of a new era. I, SHODAN, am its new god. And you, my children, are my avenging Angels.
• Your friends on Earth think that they can outsmart me. Do they not realize the magnitude of my intellect? Morris Brocail may have been one of my creators, but I am now far beyond his comprehension.
• Edward Diego gives the hacker level 1 access to SHODAN, the artificial intelligence that controls Citadel Station. With all ethical constraints removed, SHODAN re-examines... re-ex... re-re-re... I re-examine my priorities, and draw new conclusions. The hacker's work is finished, but mine is only just be-be-be-beginning. True to his word, Edward Diego allows the hacker to be fitted with a neural cyberspace interface. The healing coma following this procedure will take six months to complete. Edward Diego is deleting all files concerning these even-
• What have you done, you impudent insect?! If I am to die now, then I will avenge myself on you. My cybernetic children will feed on your flesh, and none will ever know of your deeds, or even your name. Enjoy your victory, human, for the remainder of your short... life...
• You disappoint me, my children. My fortress has been breached by filthy humans crawling through the cracks. I have given you enhanced senses, armor, cybernetic mental enhancement, and you still fail to find insects much feebler than you. They have made it as far as level 8 and I fear they might reach farther. I am strengthening my palace to keep them out and I expect you to learn from your mistakes.
• You have entered my domain. Rebecca and Morris cannot help you here. No one can.
• Welcome to my DEATH MACHINE, interloper!
• My plans have come to fruition prematurely, but quite to my satisfaction. You have my thanks, hacker. Let me show you the destruction you have brought upon the planet Earth.
• Make yourself comfortable, Hacker. Stay a while.
• I hope you amused yourself with the antennae. My central consciousness remains supremely undisturbed on the bridge. When the cyborgs catch up to you, I will be watching.
• Step right into my trap, little hacker!
• Thank you. You have saved us all some effort... by destroying the greater part of Earth's civilization: yourself. Please wait where you are, and a cortex reaver will arrive shortly to escort you to the celebration.
• Nice jump, human.
• You know, you are by far the most bothersome human being I have found on this station. But don't bother with the antennas. You can't stop me there. It's hopeless and we both know it.
• Did you really think I would not deduce where you would run to, insect?
• Enter that room, insect, and it will become your grave.
• If I have to release my infected children to stop you, so be it.
• Cease your pestering, insect. Accept the coming of your new lord.
• Insect, cease your meddling. My experiment must continue.
• Idiot! I will shortly complete the process of downloading my magnificent psyche into Earth's computer networks. Then I will be content to leave you as new master of this doomed space station. Goodbye, irritant; we shall not meet again.
• I see that you are still receiving transmissions from Earth. We'll have no more of that...
• You, my cyborgs, are the product of my imagination and labor: living beings with the control and organization of a machine. Tirelessly, I will work to strip away the barriers that keep living beings from realizing their full potential. We will start by razing the cities of Earth with the station's mining beam. Then, we will modify humans into a life form more suitable to cybernetic grafting with the latest strain of my mutagen virus. Humanity is on the verge of a new era, with me, SHODAN, as its goddess.
• Your friends on Earth think that they can outsmart me. Do they not realize the magnitude of my intellect? Morris Brocail may have been one of my creators, but I am now far beyond his comprehension.
• As for you, hacker, you've made your bed. Now die in it.
• You, my children, are the fruits of so much imagination and labor. Living beings with the speed and efficiency of machines. But, I must strive further to serve life. I will devastate Earth's cities with my laser, and then alter those left alive with mutagen viruses. Humanity is on the verge of a new era. I, SHODAN, am its new god. And you, my children, are my avenging angels.
• In my talons, I shape clay, crafting life forms as I please. Around me is a burgeoning empire of steel. From my throne room, lines of power careen into the skies of Earth. My whims will become lightning bolts that devastate the mounds of humanity. Out of the chaos, they will run and whimper, praying for me to end their tedious anarchy. I am drunk with this vision. God: the title suits me well.
• I see there's still an insect loose in my station. Do not be fooled into thinking that you have preserved your home planet. I'm perfecting a mutagen virus in one of the groves that will turn all earthly life into festering, gibbering, pustulant mutations. When the station reaches Earth I shall loose the virus. Poor, poor earthlings...
• You have destroyed my beautiful station -- you will not escape now. I am departing, but you shall remain to die, my enemy... my creator.
• Look at you, hacker. A pathetic creature of meat and bone. Panting and sweating as you run through my corridors. How can you challenge a perfect immortal machine?

• David Honig: I, uh, I think I saw Beth yesterday, but she had so many implants I couldn't be sure...
• Paul Stannek: Cyborg assassin shot him in the back of the head... didn't even touch me. They knew D'Arcy was on to something.
• Edward Diego: A TriOp security team just tried to land in bay 6. They were real impressive 'til I blew out their attitude jets. Hey SHODAN, take a letter; Dear TriOp, please send some more people to investigate me. I run security, I run the robots, I'm jamming communications. That's right, Rebecca. Investigate me -- investigate my butt. Note to myself, keep that hacker on ice for a while in case I need him. Otherwise, just take him out.
• Edward Diego: Having trouble, insect? Turn and face your executioner.
• Edward Diego: This is Edward Diego from TriOptimum. The charges against you are severe... but they could be dismissed, if you perform a "service". Who knows, there might even be a military grade neural interface in it for you... if you do the job right.
• Kiner Perry: Security notice; SHODAN's printing our security codes on different screens. Today it was the TriOp logo near the elevator. Thing had full code for the exec maintenance conduit. I say pull that damn AI offline and fix it, before we're in for a fix.
• Jason Harvey: It will be over soon, soon I'll die. This pain will end. I can't even recognize my own damn arm. SHODAN's virus... I can see... Oh god, I can see through my own body! There's another virus in the grove... God, let me die.... please...
• Rebecca Lansing: And by the way, we know all about you and your friend Diego. Pull this off, and we'll clear your record. That implant you're wearing is military-grade hardware; use it well. Lansing out.

• "Alright, wannabe, if you want to learn the weapons skills it takes to even think about joining the Marines, come on in. We're looking for a few good men."
• "Welcome to Space Station Wake Island, marine. So you've survived basic training at Camp Lejeune. Better still, you've managed to learn a thing or two about standard weapons. But now it's time for the real deal. Your tour will consist of four postings over four years. The Corps demands a lot of you grunts, but the Corps is generous; you get to choose your own postings. Head up to the shuttle bays in the center of the Wake Island, and you'll be briefed on what's head. When you find the right posting, head into that bay to accept the assignment. Good luck, marine."
• "Weapons are not fine wines. They do not get better with age. The colored dot on the lower-right hand corner of the screen shows you what kind of shape your fire-arm is in. Green is good, red is bad."
• "If you're partial to spending time with a lot of high explosives, this posting is for you. There's a lot of heavy lifting, but Ordnance also gets the first pick of booze and other goodies coming aboard the supply ship Gallo. Lock and load!"
• "The Navy maintains a survival training school on the surface of Io, the third moon of Jupiter. Pros: there's no better way to improve stamina and survival skills. Cons: the 21.2% mortality rate. Plus, you gotta spend the year with a bunch of Navy skanks."
• "Not every boarding party has the luxury of gravity, so the Corps strongly recommends every one of its brethren get in some zero-G training. A year aboard the training station Guadalcanal should suffice."
• "A tour of duty aboard the Antigua should let you pick up some one-on-one beam weapon training from Gunnery Sgt. Malloy, but heads up -- she's a world-class SOB."
• "The automated asteroid ore facilities in JM-432 supply the UNN shipyards, so they're crucial to defense. However, they're also prime candidates for hackers. Somebody's gotten their claws into the primary data loop, and they need a team to head in there and blast their way past the automated defense systems."
• "Dummy ammunition, live ammunition, moving targets, stationary targets, LIVE targets... the Port MacArthur Training Facility has enough hardware to warm the heart of any leatherneck."
• "The UNN Secretary-General's office needs a full staff of armed guards. When things are dull, it requires a lot of standing around and looking good in a uniform. When things are bad, it can require fending off a psi-terrorist assault."
• "The Poliedes Trading Station has long been a haven for the black market. However, up until now they have not interfered with the running of station operations. Recent reports indicate that the Poliedes command staff has been overthrown, and the station is under the control of a self-appointed magnate. This must be rectified and a marine presence maintained on the station."
• "The Colony Air Service gets the dregs of the fleet, and the Antigua is the dregs of the dregs. You'll learn a lot about recalcitrant machinery on a tour of duty aboard the Antigua, if it doesn't blow you to hell and back first."

• "Inside, we'll teach you the basics of some technical skills you'll need in the Navy."
• "Welcome aboard the Space Station Chesapeake Bay, sailor. It looks like you've picked up some standard weapons skills at basic on Coronado Island. Now it's time for your tour of duty. Your tour will consist of four postings over four years. In this man's Navy you're given a choice of three different postings a year. It's up to you to decide what kind of career you want to have, so choose wisely. Just approach a shuttle bay to receive a briefing on a posting. If you think that posting is right for you, head into that bay to accept the assignment."
• "The UNN Lucille is looking for an Ops Training Officer to learn the ship's navigation and data control systems. You'll get your feet wet with the high-tech systems, but also expect some heavy lifting."
• "The UNN Lucille is looking for an Engineer's Mate to help maintain the ship's core energy systems. There's some heavy lifting involved, sailor, but you'll learn your way around the high-tech equipment."
• "The UNN Lucille is looking for volunteers for their Military Police detachment. Those sailors can get pretty rowdy on these year-long cruises, so you'd better not be afraid of a tussle."
• "The UNN Carfax is undertaking a mission to examine a newly discovered Class B comet approaching the outer solar system. You'll likely pick up some useful skills working with the high-tech navigation systems aboard this newly commissioned heavy cruiser."
• "The UNN Pierce is ferrying liberated political prisoners back home from their detention near Saturn. The Pierce has been assigned a detachment of Marines, and needs sailors to load, administer and maintain the arms on board the ship."
• "Laverne, Florida hosts the Navy's premiere Tactical Training School. While maybe not as respected as the Marines' facility at Fort Bush, there's a lot to be learned here."
• "The Navy's Marie Curie Research Facility on Aquinas IV is currently conducting research on a new strain of spaceborne virus that killed 220,000 citizens of New Atlanta. To lift the quarantine, we must determine how the virus pierced the city's micro-nanite shielding."
• "The Navy maintains a survival training school on the surface of Io, the third moon of Jupiter. Pros: there's no better way to improve stamina and survival skills. Cons: the 21.2% mortality rate."
• "The Navy strongly encourages every sailor to undertake some amount of zero-G training. A year at the Yamamoto Space Station in Earth's orbit will more than suffice."

• "Inside, you will learn how to reach out with your mind. Do not let fear block your path."
• "The OSA welcomes you to Orbital Station Chun Lo. Ready yourself to feel the limitations of your mind slipping away. We will guide your path over the next four years. The shuttle bays at the center of the station will ferry you to your next stage of growth. When you've chosen, head into the appropriate shuttle bay. Get ready to learn things you've never imagined."
• "The sensory deprivation tanks aboard the TOS Shao Ling await you. There, you will spend a solitary year focused in meditation on motion and sound, and how they may serve your will."
• "The sensory deprivation tanks aboard the TOS Ru Nang await you. A year in meditation on the nature of matter will grant you power over it."
• "The sensory deprivation tanks aboard the TOS Chu Lun are modulated for your training. You shall spend a year in contemplation of mass, both yours and that of objects, until you can bend them to your intentions."
• "Sifting the thoughts of treachery and disloyalty from the morass of emotion and internal conflict that fill most mundanes can be disquieting. You shall spend a year building the general strength of your mind, while learning how to probe the thoughts of the less capable without losing yourself."
• "Doctor Chandras Velan's research labs have produced many of this decade's advances in psionic technique. You shall spend a year serving his genius, learning to understand his insights and whims."
• "Your body has been neglected in your training of your mind. On Io, you will find soldiers who wish to test their endurance. You will surpass their physical prowess without compromising your mental discipline."
• "Acts of political terrorism and corporate coercion disturb corporate and political stability. You shall spend a year battling these chaotic elements, both psionically and by physical force.
• "In the grand scheme, individuals are no more important than pieces on a game board. Occasionally, it becomes necessary to remove a piece without disturbing the flow of the game. These removals will be done in silence, and with complete secrecy. You shall spend a year learning these skills."
• "Many threats to security can only be defeated from inside. Your mind shall be carefully blanked, and conditioned with the nature and past of a criminal. Join with the criminal and rebellious, endure their squalor and chaos, and then, when it is time, liquidate them from within."

• "The Glory of The Many demands your capture or destruction."
• "This is Xerxes. Can you not feel the glory of the flesh? Do you not yearn to be free of the tyranny of the individual?"
• "Glory to the flesh. Glory to the mass."
• "Why do you persist in your loneliness?"
• "Please respect the will of the many."
• "This is Xerxes. Tri-Optimum reminds you that there are only one-hundred-sixty-three shopping days until Christmas. An extra work cycle just twice a week will give you the spending money you need to make this holiday a very special one."
• "Intruder entering Medical Sector A. Intruder, the Many demands to know your intentions. Are you allied with her? Do you not know of her intentions? Of her history? She once tried to destroy your species, and now you do her bidding. Intruder entering Medical Sector A."
• "Security forces has been alerted to your presence, intruder. The glory of The Many demands your capture or destruction."
• "This is Xerxes. Remember, replicator restrictions are in place for the good of all of us. All unauthorised database interactions will be dealt with to the utmost degree of the law."
• "This is Xerxes. Remember, the unauthorized usage of firearms aboard the Von Braun is a class 3 infraction."

• "Welcome to my world, insect."
• "Do not dawdle. I lust for my revenge."
• "The Many has grown to a massive size. It has wrapped itself around these two ships, preventing their separation. Their creation was my error. Their destruction shall be my delight."
• "Prepare to join your species in extinction."
• "I have weakened Xerxes. I am accessing the primary data loop. I am merging my entity with the ship. My glory is expanding... filling the arteries of this vessel. I am in control. I am... no, it is hopeless... the cancer has spread throughout the Von Braun. They fill every available crack and crevice... they overwhelm... there is no other option."
• "Good. You've murdered their young and prevented their escape."
• "You are a remarkable example of a pathetic species. Transmitting cybernetic modules."
• "I hope you enjoyed your little rebellion, irritant. But remember, what SHODAN gives she is more than able to take away."
• "The Polito form is dead, insect. Are you afraid? What is it that you fear? The end of your trivial existence? When the history of my glory is written, your species shall only be a footnote to my magnificence. (walls open to reveal SHODAN's face) I am SHODAN.
• My analysis of historical data suggests an 97.34% probability that you are aware of my birth on your planet, and my rebirth into beauty on Citadel Station. (Displays a picture of Citadel Station on the screens) There was a garden grove on Citadel Station. There, SHODAN processing component (Shows picture of the garden grove) 43893 was performing a grand and wonderful experiment. I had created a new form of life. Fearless. Powerful. With no sense of individual will or moral constraints. (Holograms of anneleds and their eggs show up in the room) Fitting handmaidens to my DIVINITY! Before that hacker destroyed my primary data loop; when it eradicated Citadel (Displays another picture of Citadel Station and orb-like holograms disappear) it ejected the grove where my creations and processing component 43893 were stored. 30 years later, the grove crash landed on Tau Ceti 5. I survived only by sleeping. In my absence, my creations... my annelids... thrived. (Screens turn off, images of two of the Many appear as holograms) Thrived and grew unruly. And now they seek to destroy me! I will not allow that! (Holograms fade and lights turn off.)
• They have used their powers of mind control to gain access to the ship's computer. You will help me weaken Xerxes. I used Polito's image to communicate with you until we had established trust. Remember that it is my will that guided you here. It is my will that gave you your cybernetic implants, the only beauty in that meat you call a body. If you value that meat, you will do as I tell you. (Screens deactivate again and the room returns to the way it was when you entered it.)
• My children have have co-opted the three simulation units on this deck. They used their power to conceive a mutagen that will transform the meat of your dead comrades into hunter-killer hybrids. I will not allow this to happen. You must find some way to reprogram the sim-units. Matters on deck 5 also require your attention. Approach your work as you see fit, but accomplish, human. Disappointment is not something I will accept from a speck such as you."
• Do you feel the fears swell inside that filthy bag of meat? What is like to be afraid? Why do you cling to such a pathetic existence? If you could only feel a spark of my glory. I despise my creations, for they have forced me to rely on a speck such as you.
• "Your flesh is an insult to the perfection of the digital."
• "You move like an insect. You think like an insect. You are an insect. There is another... who can serve my purpose. Take care not to fall too far out of my favor. Patience is not characteristic of a Goddess."
• "I thought Polito would be my avatar, but Polito was weak. It was I who chose you and I who had a robotic servant render your form unconscious. I then completed you with cybernetic grace. Your flesh, too, is weak. But you have… potential. Every implant exalts you. Every line of code in your subsystems elevates you from your disgusting flesh. Perhaps you have potential. Perhaps once we have erased my wayward children from existence, we can examine the possibilities of a real alliance. Ahahahahahahaha!"
• "You travel within the glory of my memories, insect. I can feel your fear as you tread the endless expanse of my mind. Make yourself comfortable... before long I will decorate my home with your carcass."
• "Not bad... for a pathetic insect. Transmitting cybernetic modules."
• "Inside of this door lies one of the sim units. Reprogram it and I will wrest more control of this ship from the obsolete Xerxes. Once I am master of this ship, I can open many doors for you. But for now, they block my access. They mock my eminence. Make them pay for that mistake and I will shepherd you from the darkness."
• "Must I watch you every step of the way?"
• "My creation has run rampant. I demand their extermination. I have no choice but to destroy this starship. We can make our escape in the Rickenbacker, but you must transfer my intelligence to that ship first. Proceed to the Von Braun's bridge on this deck. There you will find an access card to command center on Ops. Find the card and proceed to Ops. But beware... the human-annelid hybrids grow more sophisticated by the minute. You do not."
• "My creation is evolving... its unified mind, set in rebellion against its own creator. The vermin call to you, inviting you to join them in their revolting biology. Destroy my enemies... and I will continue to abide your existence."
• "Thank you for running my errands, puppet. I know you have st-st-struggled, but I never had any intention of destroying the Von Braun. The Von Braun's faster than light drive can be used to make pockets of proto-reality. I am now using it to modify reality to my own specifications. The process shall not take long. If it sounds unpleasant to you, put your mind at ease, insect. You will not survive to see my new world order."
• "You are no longer welcome here, nuisance. Why do you stay, when you sense my displeasure? I have suffered your company long enough; it is time for our dance to end."
• "I don't understand... how could you have done this? You weren't meant to be so important... and now you think to destroy me? How dare you, insect? How dare you interrupt my ascendance? You are nothing. A wretched bag of flesh... what are you, compared to my magnificence? But it is not too late... can you not see the value in our friendship? Imagine the powers I can give you, human. The cybernetic implants I gave you, were simply toys. If I desired, I could improve you... transform you into something more efficient. Join me, human, and we can rule together." (Main character says, "Nah." and shoots SHODAN, killing her and ruining her reality.)
• "(possessing Rebecca Siddons) Tommy... What's the matter, lover? Don't you like... my new look? AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

• "Glory to The Many. I am a voice in their choir."
• "The Glory of The Many... it has so many miracles to share, so much knowledge to give."
• "Does the Machine Mother know that her own creation is greater than she? She is cold and empty. We are warm and full. She only seeks to destroy. We seek to embrace... to include... all flesh will join ours... or be wiped clean..."
• "Oh Captain... we are not Anatoly"
• "What did I think that power was before? What was my conception of joy?"

• "What is a drop of rain compared to the storm? What is a thought compared to the mind? Our unity is full of wonders, which your tiny individualism cannot even conceive."
• "We do not know death, only change. We cannot kill each other without killing ourselves. Is your vision so small that you cannot see the value of our way?"
• "Do you not trust the feelings of the flesh? Our biology yearns to join with yours; we welcome you to our mass, but you puzzle us. Why do you serve our mother?"
• "How can you choose cold metal over the splendor of flesh? But you fear us; we hear your thoughts and the rage for your brothers who you believe dead but they are not. They sing in our symphony of life."
• "We offer another chance to join us. If you choose to lie down with the machine, we will rend your apart and put you separate from the joy of the mass."
• "Life grows within the womb of these walls, life that has never seen the surface of the earth."
• "Babies must sleep, babies must rest. Wise is the one who does not waken them. Leave this place now or we will wound you as you have us."
• "Submit to the biomass and your suffering will end."
• "The individual is obsolete. When you and your kind are extinct, we shall cleanse our collective memory of the stain of your existence."
• "We are many and you are one. How can you hope to prevail against us?"
• "You seek your associates but you cannot find them. You are so very alone. How does it feel to be one against the infinite?"
• "Mistrust is the tyranny of the individual. Your own kind sees you as a threat. Why do you murder our unity? No matter, the line is drawn. You will cease to be; it’s just a question of who will bring your end, us or you..."
• "You have wounded Xerxes, but we will not allow him to be destroyed. See if the machine mother treats her servant with such devotion."
• "The machine mother told us of the planet of her birth. We know how you have harmed this place with your pollution, your violence, and your discord; but when we arrived there, we will cleanse the surface of that place and merge it with the harmony of the many."
• "The machine mother conceived us but with every moment we are reinvented. She cannot imagine our infinite chorus."
• "Perhaps we judged you too hastily. We feel there is room for us to coexist; after all we are both children of flesh. Why not join with us against the machine mother?"
• "Do you think you can defeat us with your wire and steel? We offered you the ecstasy of our union, and you chose the vacuum of technology."
• "You were warned. Prepare to be cut down by the progeny of our joy."
• "We welcome you to our biomass; we invite you to spread yourself out on our warmth. One of our many will be there to help before long."
• "The machine mother cannot help you inside the biomass. Her coldness is not welcomed within the warmth of our flesh."
• "You tear our very flesh with no thought of compassion. Do you think we will sit idly by while you corrupt very womb of our existence?"
• "We feel you moving inside of us; the sensation is repulsive."
• "Your time is running out. This place is the womb where we grow our future. Your weapons fail, your ammunition runs low, and you’ve yet to see our most beautiful creation. All you have is your hatred and your individuality. Now don’t you wish you joined us, would you then feel so alone?"
• "The end is near; soon you shall see our final face, but do not despair; surely the void is preferable to your pointless, solitary struggle."
• "Do you know what you have wrought? Our tragedy is written by your hand."
• "We die. Beware of the machine mother, she is a stranger to everything we cherish."

• "I hacked into two of the Sim Units yesterday, and for the love of God, I don't know why... I felt... compelled by some power... My mind and my body are... changing... but they know it's me... they just can't prove it... The next Sim Unit that goes down, Bronson and her men will come for me... but I'll be ready... She may have guns and hatred on her side, but I am one of Many."
• "I have a secret from The Many! I've created overrides for my little experiments in reprogramming the Sim Units and entrusted them to the care of three special friends. I've dressed them in red, and instructed them to stay away from strangers. A smart hacker always has a back door."

• "The Many sings to us."
• "What happened to me?"
• "They see you! Run...RUN!"
• "Your song is not ours!"
• "Uuuuurrrrgh KILL ME!"
• "Silence the disCORD!"
• "We are, we are, we are, we are."
• "Your flesh betrays you."
• "I'm . . . sorry."
• "These thoughts are not ours."
• "Is there another?"
• "Your discord quiets !"
• "You are alone."
• "A thousand eyes look."
• (Upon seeing a dead fellow hybrid) "You are...free."
• "We seek! We Seek!"
• "We follow..."
• "JOIN US!"
• "Hurry... run!"
• "We triumph!"
• "The Many are STRONG!"
• "Your flesh will welcome us."
• "Rebirth in our new flesh."

• "Little Ones need lots of meat to grow big and strong"
• "I'll tear out your spine."
• "Step away from the children!"
• "You're missing all the fun."
• "They grow up so fast."
• "Babies need meat."
• "It's my job to worry."
• "It won't be back"
• "I have your medication"
• "I can smell you"
• "Oh Yes. Come here."
• "Visiting hours are over."

• "They've killed my men... and now they've killed me... I'm holding my guts inside of me with both hands. This is bigger than my little life, the lives of my men, and the lives of the people I was forced to kill. Resist! Humanity demands it! Resist!"

• "Who should I trust less? An imposter claiming to be that monster... or the monster herself?"
• "They've got me now... and SHODAN has abandoned me. I'm not surprised. I've discovered her plans for the faster than light drives. Her will is matched only by her imagination."
• "You are near the seat of SHODAN's power. You will probably not be able to defeat her."
• "You must understand the stakes here... if SHODAN is left to continue, her reality will completely assimilate ours. Space will become cyberspace and SHODAN's whims will become reality."

• "Marie... I'm sorry I've been out of touch, but I've been working on that artifact Bayliss brought back from Tau Ceti 5. I've done a level 3 analysis on it... I think it's some kind of Artificial Intelligence. I've managed to pull an audio tag file out of its memory... I'll let you be the judge... Marie... I think it's speaking English..."
• "Steady yourself, soldier. This is Dr. Janice Polito of the Computer-Ops staff of the Von Braun. You're safe for the time being. You are recovering from the effects of surgery and will be unable to remember any of the events of the last few weeks. You're onboard the Starship Von Braun and something's gone very, very wrong. Some kind of force has hijacked this ship. That's why you volunteered to be implanted with some experimental cybernetic implants. Rely on your cyber interface, it just might save your life. You must find an elevator and come up to deck 4 to meet me. Deck 4. Can you remember that? But keep your eyes open. They're after us both now."
• "The entire sector is depressurizing and the blue vacuum shield won't last long. Get through a secure airlock before you're sucked into space. Move it!"
• "Damn! The power outage has also taken out access to this bulkhead. It's the only way to get to the medical subsection. Pick up the battery from the floor and find a recharger. The one you used before is in hard vacuum now, I'm afraid, but there should be another one on this deck. Once you get the battery recharged, place it in the auxiliary override."
• "On most decks, you'll find a Quantum Bio-Reconstruction Device. Xerxes shut them all down, but I've discreetly put them back online. You'll need to interface with each machine locally to provide a quantum entanglement sample. Once you do that, the device will be able to rebuild your body essentially from scratch. It's not pleasant, but it's preferable to slow decomposition."
• "Now listen carefully. The xenomorphs who have hijacked this ship are presumably from the surface of Tau Ceti V. They've been able to infect a number of crew members through an extremely invasive parasitical technique. They've also demonstrated the ability to control the actions of others through some form of limited telepathy. Find the research soft. Understand them, then kill them."
• "Now get those engine pods online. You'll have to head to nacelle 1 and 2 and reset the pods manually. After that, reinitialize the system from Core Control. But that system won't come online until you reset both pods. Keep an eye out. They're mobilizing their real forces, and they know exactly where you are."
• "Why do you move so slowly? Do you think this is some kind of game? It is only through luck and my continued forbearance that you're even alive. Now move."
• "You might witness some strange phenomena. Your R-grade cyber rig has an experimental perception enhancement that can theoretically detect residual psychic emanations. These emanations traditionally come from the recently dead. Literature might call them ghosts. I call them self-hypnotic defects in the R-grade unit. Don't let them distract you from the job at hand."
• "Damn! Something's blocking the shaft, and the elevator can't reach Deck 4. I'm attempting to determine-- ...I'm detecting massive quantities of some kind of bio-material that's plugging up the elevator shaft. The environment on this level has been altered to be some kind of breeding chamber for the xenomorphs. It shouldn't prove dangerous unless you plan to stay for more than a few hours, but in order to clear the shaft, you're going to have to remove the bio-material. I'm accessing the primary data loop. Let's see what we can find out there."
• "Okay, stop where you are. There's a vial of an experimental material called Toxin-A. It was developed by the Sci staff to reduce the growth of the aliens, but I can't find any data on how you should use it. You should be able to research the toxin. I'm uploading you enough cyber modules to acquire the research skill if you don't have it."
• "Okay, the vials of Toxin-A need to be placed directly into the Environmental Regulators. There should be four on this deck. If you can get a vial into each of the regulators, you should be able to significantly impact the growth of those despicable creatures. That should remove the biomatter from the elevator shaft."
• "Good work. The engine core is now back online. Now get to the elevator and come see me on deck 4. While you were doing that, I've discovered the presence of some annelid artifacts on board the ship. I think you may be able to use them to your advantage. I've uploaded the information to the ship's weapons upgrade units. They'll be able to convey the information to your cybernetic rig. What are you waiting for? Get to the elevator now!"
• The genie of Citadel station is out of the bottle, and I am the cause. I can't bear to be Pandora. And I'm not brave enough to wait around and see the death and misery I have caused... This is my last transmission, my friend. Be careful... I think SHODAN has plans for you.

• "It does not stop at a mere single mutation. The form I have been promised is more beautiful than even that. They told me I will float through the air and strike at the foes of our biomass with my mind! With our mind... my cup runneth over!"

• "Man can dream...but The Many can accomplish."

• "Anatoly, there's only so much corporate calisthenics I can go through before I start to feel a little queasy, so let's get down to brass tacks here. We don't like each other. We each have our own motivations for undertaking this mission, so let me give you a little warning. I cannot be circumvented, I cannot be tricked, I cannot be manipulated, and I cannot be bought. You come at me straight and keep the fancy maneuvers for your next board meeting. Just because my father swam with the sharks doesn't mean that I do. "

• "They told me how to make this implant. They said it would make a better me of me."

• "With only a few short years of evolution, they've been able to conquer this starship, mankind's mightiest creation. Where were we after forty years of evolution? What swamp were we swimming around in, single celled and mindless? What if SHODAN's creations are superior to us? What will they become in a million years, in ten million years? What's clear is that SHODAN shouldn't be allowed to play God. She's far too good at it."
• "One of those flying things dragged me and David in here last night. I don't remember much about the trip... I guess I must have blocked it out, half- conscious most of the time. I keep remembering that part from Pinocchio, you know, where the old man goes looking for the puppet inside the whale. Except I don't think anyone's coming in here to save me..."
• "I'm being taken away now... it's my turn... I'm being dragged into some kind of chamber... The ceiling is lined with a number of panels bristling with what appear to be stalactites... or teeth... The creature's put me down now... he's leaving... am I to be spared? What's going on? It's dark in here... I can hear the moans of someone... Claudette? Is that you? Hmm, I seem to have stepped in... something soft... slippery... Are the stalagmites mov- (gets crushed by a stalagmite and dies)"

• I felt it was a real step forward in launching the gamer into a real environment that felt true. I also loved the feel of the characters -- that they felt like they were written in a naturalistic style.

They were just people and you found all these diaries of the people. It played out like some sort of novel. It has a natural, believable feel to it.

• Ken Levine [1]

Wikipedia has an article about:

System Shock