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Straight outta Der Bunker scriptworks, my friends. For those of you who watch my videos, my apologies for the delay. Clearly not uncommon for life to get in the way of my channel, sadly. All the same, this is my home and I figger I ought to share what I've been working on, as I feel it's worth discussing. So without further ado...straight from the studio: Way back in 2011, with the discovery of the radios on the Black Ops 1 map, moon, it was revealed that Dr. Edward Richtofen’s renegade Group 935 scientists, after several years of work, had finally unlocked the secrets of the Moon Pyramid Device, better known as the MPD. The process of powering it, however, was as controversial as it was groundbreaking. Dr. Groph, the lead scientist at Griffin Station, along with his assistant scientist, Dr. Schuster, killed a lab rat in the vicinity of the MPD, and for the first time since its discovery, the ancient machine responded. Moon Audio Reel: Dr. Groph: Log 1075. Dr. Schuster and I have spent countless hours with the pyramid device in an attempt to understand how it functions. We have made little progress... until now. Today we uncovered what appears to be some kind of tank with a glass-like front. The glass itself seems- Dr. Schuster: I've got you now rat! Dr. Groph: Kill it Schuster! *Squishing sound followed by a whooshing sound* Dr. Schuster: Did you see that? Dr. Groph: Look! The capacitor is illuminated, the tank is filling- Dr. Schuster: The machine. It seems to be activated! What did you do? Dr. Groph: I think we just discovered what powers this machine. When the news reached Dr. Richtofen, he sent a large shipment of prisoners to the moon base with orders for Groph and Schuster to kill as many as necessary to open the device, preparing it for an inhabitant. Though appalled by the orders, Groph followed through, and the MPD was finally prepared for Richtofen’s grand scheme. Moon Audio Reel: Dr. Edward Richtofen: Griffin station. This is Eagle’s Nest. Status update. Over. Dr. Groph: Hello Doctor. We have the shipment, and are carrying out your orders. *Gunshot, grunting, and a whooshing sound are heard* Dr. Groph: It is grim work Doctor. Dr. Edward Richtofen: All in the name of science Dr. Groph. Continue until the tanks are full. Dr. Groph: Yes... Doctor. *Gunshot, grunting and a whooshing sound are heard* Dr. Groph: May God have mercy on us all. During this process, as replicated in the Moon Easter Egg, as the zombies are killed in proximity to the MPD, the glass tanks gradually fill with a bluish hue. This theory seems to have somehow entirely neglected the plethora of quotes that have debunked it over the years. It suggests that the bursts of light or "swoosh" sounds are souls being released from their zombified bodies, only to be trapped and used to power the MPD. So I believe the first question we should address is, do zombies even have souls? The answer is absolutely, “yes.” One of the first ever Easter Egg songs by Kevin Sherwood, “The One,” featured in Shi No Numa introduced the concept of a sort of (what you might call) buried sentience and cognizance, sung from the perspective of a zombie’s soul, trapped inside its body which acts violently against the soul’s will, driven by primal instinct and lust for blood, while the soul inside begs to have its body killed so it can escape. Later, the theme made a resurgence in Tranzit with the Easter Egg song “Carrion,” emphasizing the zombie’s enslavement to the neurological synapses forced upon its brain by the occupant of the MPD. NOTE: There has recently been posted on this site a contrasting analysis of "Carrion" by @FatedTitan. Recommend reading: So, yes, canonically, zombies have souls. Let’s move on to debunking the theory itself: are souls ever used to power anything in the zombies universe? Interestingly enough, it has never been said that souls can power anything. Direct quotes from Dr. Maxis and Dr. Richtofen (who we can safely assume to be the primary authorities on such subjects) explain that it is...more scientific than that. There is an explanation other than simple “supernatural” dark rituals. Richtofen's own quotes, taken from Origins, seem to quickly debunk it: “I believe only in science.” “Their energy is being refocused!” "It is the transformative power of 115! It draws energy from matter, living or dead!” -Dr. Richtofen, Origins So..energy. The MPD, the “Soul Boxes” from Origins and more are powered by matter converted into energy. In fact, there is even a quote from Dr. Maxis in Buried that confirms that the soul has already departed by the time the energy manifested as a ball of light even appears. “Departed souls leave residual energy in their wake, this energy must be used to fuel the lantern.” -Dr. Maxis, Buried Other quotes from Maxis reinforce this further: “The Lantern is a vessel for energy: the energy contained within all matter.” -Dr. Maxis, Buried Notice how Maxis emphasizes that the energy needed is contained within all matter, not only in beings occupied by the sentience we know as a “soul” or “spirit.” By this we can see that some technology in the zombies universe converts matter into energy, reflecting Albert Einstein’s famous concept expressed in the equation E=mc^2, which states that any object with mass has an incredible amount of potential and kinetic energy. The point being, while the technology in the zombies storyline can get scientifically farfetched, to say the least, there are still references to actual scientific principles in the story. In fact, both Dr. Maxis and Dr. Richtofen refer on several occasions to the first law of thermodynamics. “Energy cannot be destroyed, only transferred.” -Richtofen, Origins / Maxis, Buried So all along, the flashes of light we’ve been seeing is the conversion of matter into energy, and the transfer of that energy into devices that can put it to use. Even the Origins staves are no exception “Nothing can withstand the flood of energy that flows from this staff! The ancients knowledge, harnessed by the power of research. The day approaches when science will master all elemental forces.” -Dr. Richtofen, Origins What about maps like Shadows of Evil, however? “Fractional shadows of reality” as the Shadow Man so eloquently described it. During my research, I was actually surprised to find that EVEN IN SHADOWS OF EVIL, when Jessica is charging the Apothicon egg the energy concept remains consistent, while the word “souls” has never once been used. “The egg seems to be drawing energy from the dead. This is heavier than before. Must be all that energy it sucked up.” -Jessica, Shadows of Evil So, souls are not used to power anything, but they do exist in the zombies universe. So what role do they play? The disembodiment of souls goes back all the way to Moon as well, but is very different in nature from the proximity killing of zombies. The MPD and related Vril devices such as the Golden Rod, the Black Moon Egg and the Apothicon Rift Stone, AKA the Summoning Key have served to transfer and retain disembodied human souls. As seen in Moon when Richtofen enters the MPD by swapping souls with Samantha, as well as in Der Eisendrache and Zetsubou No Shima when Richtofen salvages the souls of Dempsey and Takeo, this technology allows sentient beings to exit their bodies and occupy machines. And yet even this is more reminiscent of science fiction than mysticism, resembling the ancient extraterrestrial technology described in 2001: A Space Odyssey. “They [the extraterrestrials]...were not yet immortal. Soon, as their machines were better than their bodies, it was time to move. First, their brains, and then their thoughts alone, they transferred into shining new homes of metal and plastic. In these, they roamed among the stars. They no longer built spaceships. They were spaceships.” -Arthur C. Clark, 2001: A Space Odyssey