Death and its effects…

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Not really spoiling anything here, but better safe than sorry!

This seems like yet another example of the programming from the Hood of Clarity not taking. Addison Barrow is still in there. And the personality of the Overseer — whether it’s some transferred version of GK4, or a new personality altogether — seems like it’s clearly been used to brainwash her, and perhaps is even “refreshed” when its dominance starts to fade.

During my second visit through, The Overseer said that she knew what they’d done to her — the brainwashing, the murder; all of it. But yet she didn’t remember writing parts of the diary we’ve all gone over. The Overseer I met that night was somebody in conflict. She was fighting for her “vision” of The OOA — one that needed everyone from pro-OOA forces to BoS members to support her — and she seemed almost desperate in that fight. That is NOT The Overseer we saw in the most recent Periscope video. (Nor, it sounds like, the one that @shinobi encountered.)

As for the deaths… we’ve heard many times that The Tension Experience is an ‘immersive theater production’ designed as a front for the OOA. Why should we believe that the deaths we witness are anything but yet another misdirection, designed to push our buttons in the name of the larger goal of those that are behind this experiment?

I like your interpretation @bcbishop of seeing The Overseer as “someone in conflict.” My most recent encounter with her, I saw the effect the Helmet had… it was one of those “reset” moments several people have described witnessing. BUT, there was also a moment where she did sense she had encountered me before. Her declaration (in the office) that she is aware of what has been done in the past is something I think is important… she seems to be hanging in there for a greater good, in my opinion. (What that is to her… I am not sure. However, she seems determined that there is something good that can come from all of this confusion for all of us – in my opinion, anyway.)

I have the inclination to agree with your assessment, Dan. With the information I’ve gathered and witnessed about Addison and those who handle her, I’ve been able to deduce (however successfully) that she is lost within herself.

Have you seen the show Humans? It is a show about AI and robots that are made to look and feel (to the touch) like us. The narrative revolves around a group of these robots who were able to actually FEEL (emotion), like we do. Ultimately, this unnerved the creators, so they decided to reprogram them- updating them with software that overrode any personality.

Keeping it simple, one of these beings ended up at a suburban residence. From time to time, they noticed something different about their robot. It would glitch and, just for a moment, the original personality shown through. I’ll allow you to watch the series or read about it on your own time, if you’re interested. Don’t want to give too much away and stray too far from the point.

That being, I feel as though the helmet has rendered Addison a mutable vessel. From time to time, we see slivers of the REAL Addison poke through. This is why they must re-adminster the helmet- as they’ve been wont to show participants.

FOR ME, this signifies a lack of control. Where there is such, much allusion and illusion follow. Smoke and mirrors… yes. I find myself agreeing.

INSTEAD of a loop, I suggest we’ve find ourselves in a paradox.

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It’s really hard to know for certain without knowing precisely what has happened at everyone else’s show, but I know during our ceremony specifically the Handlers made a reference to how many failures there had already been and how many lives they have taken. Have they been saying that at every Ascension? Obviously, I don’t know! And I suppose we can assume that there are attempts to find Oracles that are happening when we aren’t looking. If a tree falls, etc.

I do think there are some things that reset. We have “actresses” acknowledging that there are false things taking place. But could they have really found an Oracle during a ceremony before this and nobody knew? No one? No one in that crowd was so moved that they sought out these forums?

I think it’s possible that the Oracle might not be real, certainly. But I do believe we are meant to know she exists and are meant to take her as real, without a reset. They knew who would be present. They knew the story would make its way here. Even if it is false, it is deliberate.

And as for that inspirational hotel in New York City @lmsmedley: I’ve stayed there many, many times myself and I can tell you that what happens at Ascension is far more ambitious and complex. I don’t think you can look to the three loop structure for any answers and if the quest you’re speaking of is the one I think it is, it does not allow for anywhere near the level of variance that can be found here and has not existed in that building for nearly four years. That hotel is about the helplessness of a middle state while Ascension is about what becomes of humans when they attempt to seize or surrender full control. One is stagnate while the other still seems to be growing.

• This reply was modified 8 years ago by  Beth.

No question there. TENSION is infinitely more complex and emotional.

I actually spent Halloween at that very hotel and spent (probably excessively) large portions of my night raving to every single regular attendee I know about what is happening out there in LA. I think a few of them understood, but it’s honestly hard to comprehend until you’re inside it.

I’ve checked into the hotel often enough that when people ask for a number I usually say “too many” and leave it at that. But what happened at Ascension was so fully and completely new that I honestly don’t have the words for it.

I’ve been three times to the McKittrick, each time more rewarding. It is a different experience, which I compare to walking into a fully-imagined David Lynch film.
Is it true that there is a central quest to be had? I’ve had a couple of memorable one-on-ones. Yet you are ultimately a passive participant.

I’ve stated in my reviews that I believe Tension is, and will be in time be known as, a seminal moment in American theater.

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Interestingly, there’s a lady in a red dress at both locations. The one at the McKittrick can send you off on little errands and assignments that result in new discoveries. For a short time, there was a quest that feels central to the mythology of the Hotel. A search for something. People still speak about it with reverence, because only a select few managed to complete it (you can count them on one hand), but as far as anyone knows, though she still makes the demand, the item in question has been absent from the hotel for years. I would agree that the experience there is largely passive, for the residents as well as visitors.

Even the parts of Tension that demand obedience are so active. You are choosing to submit to the course of events. It never quite feels passive, even when you are allowing events to proceed as they will.

Because faith has led many astray in times gone by.
Still, if there is one to stay, hope makes me say, ’tis I.