A repost of an old topic that I made. To date there are references to at least 4 devices created during the golden age that have some relation to the in game characters and story. These devices seem to serve very specific purposes, and appear to be of importance. 1. The Device, aka The Vision Machine (Location: Lhasa, Earth). Cards: Old Russia 3, Future War Cult, Vex 5 2. Station A-113 (Location: In orbit of Ceres, Asteroid Belt). Cards: Dead Orbit 3. The Never-Be Installation, aka Anomaly-779 (Location: Taipei, Earth). Cards: Old Russia 3, Golden Age 2 4. The Anomaly, aka Research Station “K1” (Location: Mare Cognitum, Moon). Cards: Anomaly (Crucible) The focus of this post is around the recording system the cards use. In Items 1 & 2, the grimoire conversation is recorded using a similar accounting system which is XXX-Text-YYYY; or a series of numbers, followed by a text description, followed by another series of numbers. So all recordings of the device are recorded as XXX-CHASM-YYYY (Starting with Record 0-CHASM-0, the first record in Vex 5, and finishing with Record 343-CHASM-7891, the last known record in the Future War Cult card). Records of Station A-113 are recorded as XXX-ECLIPSE-YYYY. There is also a third similar recording in another card, Exo Stranger 2, which uses the same system, but is currently not associated with any known device: XXX-BRIDGE-YYYY. I believe the text of the recordings (CHASM, ECLIPSE, BRIDGE) provide insight into each of the device’s purpose. So let’s start with what we know: The Device/CHASM: The Device is machine that allows entrants to view alternate timelines. The Device was actually used initially as a form of military intelligence for the warminds in the golden age (pre collapse), and later was rediscovered by the FWC and is now used by them in their attempts to understand our post collapse future. It was built based on Vex research done on Venus, where their ability to simulate timelines was mimicked. This device allows for people to see the future of different timelines, but not interact with them. Thus the terminology CHASM, or large fissure or gap. Meaning the CHASM is the gap between the current timeline of the person in the device vs the timeline they witnessing. They can see the new timeline, but without a connection, they cannot actually reach it (interact). A-113/ECLIPSE: Dead Orbit is an interesting card, worth reading, but in summary, it is about a Dead Orbit team who become marooned on an unknown station in orbit of Ceres, a large spherical asteroid in the Reef. The recording of the Dead Orbit captain speaking (ECLIPSE) talks of individuals entering “keyholes” seemingly impossibly deep, where only screams from those who enter return. Keyholes is an interesting term in that it is the same term used to describe the entrance to Crotas throne world, between realities. So let’s discuss ECLIPSE. We know about Lunar and Solar eclipses in real life, where light is blocked by the passing of another celestial body..aka Darkness. So if CHASM is the view of other timelines, ECLIPSE could reasonably be a direct view of the darkness (where light is eclipsed). ????/BRIDGE: So the Exo Stranger (in Exo Stranger 2) appears to be recording her explorations of various timelines. Note the BRIDGE descriptor. What would someone need to cross a CHASM? A BRIDGE. Meaning, while the device entrants could merely view the timeline, with a BRIDGE, the Exo Stranger can actually travel to and interact with that timeline. The numbers before and after the BRIDGE appear to be tuning her jumps to both a time and space so she can arrive precisely when and where she needs to. There is no current association to this recording to a device. The Anomaly device reasonably could be the device that gave the Exo Stranger her time traveling abilities since it is the only one unaccounted for. Yes, Anomaly, aka that weird shape in the middle of the crucible map, which is a research station quarantined off from non guardians because people who come in contact with it display adverse biological effects. Also, the word “anomaly” is used to describe the Exo Stranger herself in another card (Exo Stranger card), another possible subtle tie. It also would tie into the narrative of the in game cut scene. She was not forged in light, ie: came before the collapse and the creation of ghosts. The anomaly device could also be the location of the Hyperion project, which could be the time travel project (since Hyperion is a popular scifi book about time travel). As far as Anomaly 779, the never be installation. I don’t see a lot of discussion regarding this topic, mostly because it is rather vague. I believe this to be a pictorial (fresco) version of a timeline from the Anomaly device on the moon (based heavily on the term Anomaly used to describe both). If the Anomaly device on the moon truly led to the bridging time travel technology that the Exo Stranger uses, Anomaly 779 could then be an unfinished portrait of a skyscape in a timeline that will never be. Or at least will never be as long as it is incomplete. The 779th instance of a timeline from the Anomaly machine. Possibly the Exo Stranger’s purpose (as discussed by Lakshmi-2 of the FWC) is to find a timeline that ends in peace, but all timelines currently end in war. The never be timeline portrait reflects a work in progress of that peaceful timeline, yet to be found. I believe that is why the people who view it get such a wide range of emotion. They either view it with excitement because it is a glimpse of hope, or dread, because it reminds them of what they believe they can never get and feel doomed. So let’s run through how it could logically work during the Golden Age: 1. Humans discover through the Vex, that simulating other timelines is possible (Vex 1 – 4). 2. Human and their warminds develop the Device based on the vex research, which allows subjects to view alternate timelines (CHASM), which all subjects view a timeline ending in some ominous threat of darkness (this pre-collapse, we didn’t know that something was possibly following the traveler until this point). The warminds use this intelligence to starting planning for the coming threat. 3. Next is to develop a device which allows one to view the exact nature of this ominous threat, and view the darkness directly during the collapse, when the light of the traveler was blocked, aka eclipse. It would make sense station A-113 would need to be located out in the reef, at the edge of the travelers light. So A-113 was developed to specifically view the collapse, the true nature of the threat we viewed in the device.. 4. At this point, parties unknown (because it wasn’t the warminds, or at least Rasputin) explore a third option. CHASM can only witness, not adjust. ECLIPSE shows results we definitely want to avoid. So the BRIDGE project was explored. A project to physically enter and influence/alter timelines in order to get the desired end result of peace. The importance of these cards is that they show the humanity was not completely unaware of the coming darkness during the golden age. Through research, humanity realized something dark was coming, and were preparing for it.