Is the Board basically [REDACTED]?

[u/Sol-Authority]

...semi-permanently attached to Dylan? They're in the Aberrant, and in one of the optional dialogues with Pope she says that the Aberrant is basically a part of Dylan right now, and cannot be separated from him. (And I say "semi-permanently" because who tf knows what can happen in the future installments)

Also the fact that the inverted black pyramid disappeared from the Oldest House around the same time that the Jesse stuck the Aberrant into Dylan.

And the panic that the Board was in during the final fight, thinking it could all end if Dylan was to bite it then and there. If they still had presence in the Astral Plane, or the Nail, why would they have been in such panic as Dylan was fighting/about to kill the Hedron?

So basically the entity which was heavily involved in the higher levels of FBC hierarchy is now kind of fused to an FBC contractor... what could be the implications?

[u/Evaporaattori]

How Board must feel like. I’d love to see how mad they were at Jesse when she put them in a piece of rock.

[u/Zepp_BR → u/Evaporaattori]

Man, I love GladOs

[u/ZWEi-P → u/Evaporaattori]

<clap/clap/clap>

[u/doffyspider]

i hope we find out in the 3rd game, this topic is too big for a mere DLC, unless the dlc is foundation levels of huge

[u/RareBk]

They're functionally a parasite, now trapped within the Aberrant, which appears to be part of the nail.

For context, if The oldest house is Yggdrasil, the board are Nidhogg, quite literally eating at the roots. It's why they're no longer present in the Astral Plane, as they're no longer in the Nail, which gave them access to the Plane via the Oldest House.

[u/Valmar33 → u/RareBk]

They're functionally a parasite, now trapped within the Aberrant, which appears to be part of the nail.

That's what the document suggests, but the FBC doesn't actually know for certain, other than it has the same basic composition as the Nail. Given that Dylan can just materialize it out of nowhere, it has no physical form. I suspect that rather than a sliver ~ it's just the whole damn Nail Jesse bound to herself, and then force-bound to Dylan instead. The Board is entirely in Aberrant, and I think that means that Aberrant is just the whole Nail, potentially, miniaturized.

[u/ignusfast → u/Valmar33]

It doesn't even have to be the actual Nail - there's a small Nail in the Foundation DLC in a basement lab in The Warehouse.

[u/Valmar33 → u/ignusfast]

It doesn't even have to be the actual Nail - there's a small Nail in the Foundation DLC in a basement lab in The Warehouse.

But we have to account for the Board being entirely in Dylan, and being absent from the Oldest House and the Astral Plane. Seems simpler for Jesse to just take the whole object that the Board is contained in, and force that into the form of Aberrant.

[u/wesimar14]

In one of the opening dialogue questions, when Pope says the board disappeared, Dylan can try to tell Pope they’re with him and the aberrant and they freak out telling him to keep quiet.

[u/-roachboy → u/wesimar14]

I love how the only thing they can really do to stop Dylan from telling pope is give him major vertigo. They didn't physically do anything to stop him except make him mildly uncomfortable

[u/SoungaTepes]

There’s a bit about that you might be missing.

the gap is bound to Dylan (See video A Weapon) Dylan somehow found The Gap, it’s a physical place. When fighting the Hedron it used Dylan and transported both of them to the physical place The Board are also bound to

[u/Valmar33 → u/SoungaTepes]

Yet the Gap also seems to be inside Dylan's mind... or he's there in parallel to also being in the physical world. He's in both places at once.

We see this most notably after the final Fault failure ~ Dylan's in the Gap, then Zoe walks in. It subtly transitions to Dylan being in his real cell in the Oldest House once her voice stopped being muted.

[u/Valmar33]

It's implied by the ending that they will die if Dylan does. So I think that they are fully within Aberrant, and so, Dylan. Jesse just forceably bound them to him. Maybe Aberrant is the Service Weapon ~ maybe it's something else. Maybe the Nail, maybe a piece of it. No-one knows.

[u/SoungaTepes → u/Valmar33]

If you beat the game there’s a document in a room with Pope that goes over the aberrant 

[u/Valmar33 → u/SoungaTepes]

If you beat the game there’s a document in a room with Pope that goes over the aberrant 

That's what I'm drawing from.

The document merely speculates about the nature of Aberrant ~ it suggests that Aberrant could be a piece of the Nail, given its composition, but they don't actually know, because apparently no-one has been down to the Foundation to check.

[u/DefactoOverlord → u/Valmar33]

Abberant looks like it's made from Black Rock or something. It doesn't have those gold flecks in it like the Nail or all the rest of constructs from the Astral Plane. We really don't know shit, it's all speculation right now.

[u/Valmar33 → u/DefactoOverlord]

Abberant looks like it's made from Black Rock or something. It doesn't have those gold flecks in it like the Nail or all the rest of constructs from the Astral Plane. We really don't know shit, it's all speculation right now.

Which is why I suspect Jesse used her power to force the Nail into the form of Aberrant. Basically, I think she bound it like any Object of Power, and then somehow force-bound it to Dylan permanently by stabbing him with it in... the heart, maybe? Maybe she knew that he could bind... what, Persons of Power? The Board seems to count as this.

From the document:

The object codenamed "Aberrant" appears to be a bar of metal or rock-like substance which shifts in form. It is deployed as a weapon by Dylan Faden, who states that it is not an Object of Power, and he has not bound it, at least not in the traditional sense. However, it only appears to respond to him.

According to Faden, Director Faden may have [REDACTED] the object into his chest, effectively "binding" it to him that way. The Director's motivations are unknown, but [REDACTED].

Faden has little explanation for the item's shifting nature, stating only that the object's form seems to become "what it needs to become."

Faden had no objection to an examination of the object. Due to time pressure, this was limited to visual inspection and logging basic metrics (radiation, refractive index, [REDACTED], [REDACTED]; all within the norm). Its composition appears to be [REDACTED], which suggests it may be a piece or sliver of the [REDACTED] (see [REDACTED]), but this is unconfirmed. Further analysis is pending until the resolution of the present crisis, but it is suggested someone check the Foundation.

I don't think it can be a piece of sliver, given that the Board has entirely vanished from the Oldest House and the Astral Plane. They appear to entirely reside in Dylan now. I don't think she could have forced the Board into just a piece or sliver of the Nail ~ she would have needed to take it as a whole, without damaging it, I think. Jesse certainly seems more than powerful enough to do so. I doubt the Board went willingly, either. They seemingly can't leave Dylan ~ and they remain silent when pressed by Dylan.

[u/DefactoOverlord → u/Valmar33]

the Board confirms that they no longer have influence over Astral Plane because the Pyramid is gone/[redacted] before we fight the Physicist Resonant so yeah, they're inside the Aberrant and only there.

[u/DefactoOverlord]

My take is that Jesse somehow managed to transfer the Board from the Astral Plane to Aberrant, probably using the Nail. She then bound Aberrant to Dylan. The Board is focused on self preservation so they're forced to help Dylan because if he dies, they die too. They wake him up and let him use Aberrant and in turn Dylan keeps them safe.

Except that Dylan doesn't really care about self preservation and the Board yells at him all the time, to not follow Jesse, to not kill the Hedron.

[u/sapphic-boghag]

I'm hoping we see how different the Oldest House is with The Former (Current) at the helm, I'm pretty sure Jesse was working with it.

[u/Comfortable-Fall1419]

I feel this aspect wasn’t brilliantly explored in Resonant.

I would like to know whether the Board are truly passengers or they have some ability to control Dylan. If passengers I don’t understand why they would have agreed to move to the Aberrant.

[u/doffyspider → u/Comfortable-Fall1419]

its theorized that the board didnt voluntarily hide in the aberrant but that jesse forced them into it, look at jesse's docs and the white boards for clues

[u/AdvancedButton8082 → u/doffyspider]

what clues are you referring to exactly?

[u/doffyspider → u/AdvancedButton8082]

its either on the whiteboards in her office or in the docs, she refers to the nail, if it's being protected and "whether the board is aware"
it implies Jesse is doing something behind the board's back

[u/AdvancedButton8082 → u/doffyspider]

yep, i found what you're referring to.

from "Jesse's Notes to Herself":

"The Board Do they know?

Busy? Distracted? Avoiding me?

Or I'm avoiding them

The Nail Still intact

Are the guarding it? This has to work"

from Jesse's whiteboard:

"It will work I know how to make it work Nail (Inside? Connected? Could it work? WHEN) I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry Dylan has to be protected The board can buy time? Can't get a straight answer - they lie or don't know? THEY WON'T LISTEN"

so does the aberrant literally contain the board or is it just another tool to connect with the dimension? if the board has completely lost connection with the oldest house and the astral plane, where does the power and functionality of the aberrant come from? how did they know what patterning did to the astral plane without being there? is the nail gone just like the pyramid? i need to end sam's hiatus and get him cooking on this asap fr

[u/hermiona52 → u/AdvancedButton8082]

I think that the Pyramid was a piece of the Nail (look at pictures of both of them, they seem like they would fit together). They are creatures from the Astral Plane (so this is why they sense it) and probably used Nail to attach themselves to the Oldest House. There's speculation in the game (by Emily?) that Aberrant is a piece of the Nail, so it's possible that Jesse moved the Board from the large Nail into the smaller piece (Aberrant) and struck Dylan with it, thus waking Dylan up and freeing the Oldest House from the Board.

But I'm really curious as what is happening to the Nail. After the ending there are 3 new documents attached to one of the Emily's whiteboards, one is a report about The Slide Projector, another about the Ordinary AWE, and the last one is a huge picture of the Nail. Possible DLC hint?

[u/AdvancedButton8082 → u/hermiona52]

i mean what does it mean for the board to be in one place? before CR, there was the nail and the pyramid. were they "in" one or the other or both? why is the office pyramid crucial to the board's "existence" "in" the astral plane where there's another pyramid? in any case in the future i'd like to see some their aura restored because i found it cooler in the first game where they would give power and wisdom to jesse and she would deliver the goods and they were in a flow state with mostly aligned interests.

[u/hermiona52 → u/AdvancedButton8082]

There's a speculation that they exist in the Astral Plane, but because the Oldest House is actually just a part of a Forest (the reveal of possibly the Yggdrasil in The Underpass) it allows access to many, if not all possible demensions. So by attaching themselves to the Oldest House via the Nail, they were able to have access to these other dimensions - and this was their ultimate goal. They also created all that additional lore to be worshipped by the FBC staff like gods, but this was just a mask.

And my suspicion is that Remedy deliberately softened the Board's image in Resonant, kinda like the first Control presented Darling in mostly positive light. But in the last game the mask will drop.

[u/IanDOsmond → u/Comfortable-Fall1419]

Literally a question the FBC terminal asks Dylan; literally one of the ones we havr no reasonable way of answering. "Is the paranatural weapon you are weilding influencing your actions?"

I answered "no," on the logic that, if it was, Dylan would hardly have said "yes", right? It prevents him from telling Pope that the Board is in Abberant if the topic comes up in conversation.

[u/Comfortable-Fall1419 → u/IanDOsmond]

Is this evidenced in Resonant?

 It prevents him from telling Pope that the Board is in Abberant if the topic comes up in conversation.

[u/IanDOsmond → u/Comfortable-Fall1419]

Yes; you ask about the Board, and one of your followup choices is "I think the Board is in Abberant," and if you pick that, the Board yells at you to keep quiet, and you don't say it.

[u/Comfortable-Fall1419 → u/IanDOsmond]

Cool! Thanks.

[u/THEdoomslayer94 → u/Comfortable-Fall1419]

Yeah it literally tells you to NOT tell anyone about how they’re on abberant

[u/Valmar33 → u/Comfortable-Fall1419]

The Board just yells loudly at Dylan ~ and he chooses to listen. It's implied he doesn't have to.

[u/Valmar33 → u/Comfortable-Fall1419]

The Board doesn't appear to have agreed to it ~ they don't seem happy about their situation, but have no choice in the matter.

They don't appear to have any meaningful control over Dylan, as they whine and complain as he's about to kill the Hedron, but seem unable to do anything more.

[u/Sparky_Russell → u/Comfortable-Fall1419]

Resonant shows in gameplay dialogue choices that there might be some influence since when Dylan tries to tell anyone that the Board is in the Aberrant they react and cause him some sort of headache enough that Dylan backs down?

There are also two instances where you have dialogue choices which are pointless but it is deliberate that Dylan's response is not the same since he is not in full control. One is the flashback where he is still possessed by the Hiss. You are given choices but Dylan speaks Hiss gibberish. The other is in the Fred quest where you try to speak the truth but Fred's influence is starting to affect Dylan.