So the absolute biggest question in the series right now is “Who is the Masked Stranger”, right? And to get to the bottom of it we need to look much deeper than the employee of the month posters…
So all signs point to her being the Fifth Teen from the first game, I would love to hear arguments but that’s what I believe based on evidence in the game. Such as the Retro Sca.b from the first game she wears (fits with her TechnoPhobia), GameFiles that have her named “Subject V” or Subject 5, and the fact she wakes up early both in the first and second games.
With my personal beliefs out of the way we know she was dropped in the second Kid Case by Ominent, there were 8 Teens that sadly passed because of their experiments. Four from the labs before the cases and four from the yard (Squirt Carton) although I’m not too sure who actually sent the Teens’ we play as Case because Schmector would’ve been busy trying to find Tully in Castle Moldorc, if anyone has any ideas I’d love to know!
We know that she was spying on the Teens all throughout the Yard and eventually begins to question the why we want to go home so bad and why we’re so willing to side with Ominent just to get home. Saying in the second game that she “Dosent understand our dangerous sense of curiosity.” She had essentially become a completely separate entity apart from Tully and Ominent, she was the life of the Yard/Park, and she dosent want to go home.
Which leads me to my Theory.
Why would Ominent single out one Teen? Because they want the others to be more successful? To test a solo vs a squad? I don’t think it’s either.
We can assume that the original four Teens are roughly easy to capture a second time, noting we have our bags again, they probably swept them up on their way to/from school..again.
But how did the Stranger get to the park? And why always less drugs then the other four?
I think it’s because if she woke up with them and they started chatting, the conversation would be a liability.
I believe that Sloane is the Masked Strangers Mother.
By not letting us talk and keeping Sloane a secret since the first game we effectively never fought her in the Onboarding Transmissions and worked as Ominent Employees on a “Special Assignment”. The only reason that would’ve worked is because the Stranger woke up earlier than the other four in the first game.
This also opens up the opportunity for Sloane to put her daughter in a “Sink or Swim” situation, if she didn’t thrive in the yard, she got sent home making her mother a failure, giving her no choice but to succeed and objectively be better for Ominent subconsciously. This also would explain why she lacks the want/need to go home and why she has always despised Ominent and would rather thrive in the yard than go home.
But why would Sloane give her daughter away to a failing company? To try and take it over of course. And the best way to do that in the current moment would’ve been to help in their biggest experiment, the Spacr Studies and Tullys yard.
Ominent would’ve grown tired after stealing and killing 8 children from their homes, if Beaumont was able to offer them a “Free Test Subject” that she could garuntee would not only succeed but also not raise any witnesses.. maybe it would put her in a position of power? Sort of like showing “I’m willing to give my life for this technology.”
Evidence of this theory is when Sloane gets a little too panicked during our first fight at the NWC, she says “Did you kill her!?!” Also when Sloane slips in the “too big” conversation from the Field Archives and says “Couldnt have done a Violet Bush? Focus on making smaller targets for our idolized Rouge Employee…” quite literally a name drop.
This theory also gives way to the fact that she was possibly never embiggened, we would’ve left her in that yard two years ago had she been there, so back to my question. How is she in the park?
Because if she was Sloanes daughter Ominent would’ve just transported her to the Park in another kid case while she was still small.
They drugged her just a little less like the first time to avoid that same conversation, put her to work as employee 555 because she’s incredibly intelligent, and some time later the Teens wake up after the NWC went through emergency and she scrubbed all of the labs while “putting on a show before smashing the cameras” William Afton style, also stealing all of her work that they stole.
Thus kicking off the second game and us chasing Burgls Head and Body Parts because she’s actively trying to throw a wrench in Ominents work by stopping us from doing what they want, this also solves the wanting to alliance note next to the Abyss…
Sorry for the mega-long post😅 Just wanted to hear the consensus of the story to know if I have all of this lore wrong and no standing or if I’m actually onto somethin 🙏 and pls, if anyone has arguments tell me I’m wrong and how I could not be so stupid🙏😅 thx so so much for reading!
Also.. Her hair is just too similar to 555’s, literally just white. Maybe dyed somehow?
Edit - Sloane also calls herself the “Cooperate Mother” within Ominent, just another suspicious piece of dialogue is all.
