The voice in Reactor 1

[Jairus]

Any idea whose voice it is that speaks to Cloud in the first reactor? I know he hears a number of voices in his head until his dip in the Lifestream later on, I just wasn't sure which one of them spoke to him in Reactor 1. I could never figure out what that line was referring to as it never popped up again later in the game. Thanks!

 

[Ite]

It's super unclear. Whoever it is, it's warning is right: it's not only a reactor core, but a warning system that will trigger the Guard Scorpion. Figuring out which voice it is is our next task. Who are the contenders for Cloud's voices?

1. Young ("true") Cloud
2. Sephiroth
3. Jenova
4. Zack (I think Zack is more of a fanon theory but I dunno)

Young Cloud seems to be the one who talks to Cloud the most - it's usually when he's in that liminal space between awake and dreaming, when his mental defenses are down and Young Cloud can slip through, trying to get Cloud to relive memories that will ground him in reality (his mother, asking why he didn't see Tifa, his "scraped knee" and so on) but why would Young Cloud know about the Guard Scorpion? In fact, why would Sephiroth, Jenova, or Zack? It doesn't make much sense, I'm afraid.

 

[Shademp]

While I don't have the Japanese transcription of the Early Material File in front of me, the general consensus is that the line

"Watch out! This isn't just a reactor!!"​

Spoiler: Japanese line

目をさませ！​

ここはただの発電所じゃない！！​

is a remnant from a scrapped Nibelheim flashback script.

Sephiroth: "Cloud. That mako reactor is no ordinary power plant."​

While it is definitely possible that Sephiroth's calm line was at some point changed to the loud "ここはただの発電所じゃない！！" during development, I'd still like to have more data on the topic.

Hang on, I'm gonna look up the UO page.

EDIT: Okay here's the excerpt from page 526 of the Ultimania Omega. It's looking like what I assumed to be a note by the translator is actually an in-book note.

Official note translated:

* The voice saying ‘This isn’t just a reactor!’ which Cloud hears in his mind during the bombing of the #1 mako reactor in the final game originated from this conversation with Sephiroth.

EDIT #2: And for good measure here is the Japanese transcription that confirms the origin of this mysterious line in Reactor #1.

※製品版での壱番魔晄炉爆破時にクラウドの頭に響く「ここはただの発電所じゃ​

ない」という声は、もともと上記のセフィロスとの会話からきていた。​

Though even with this official confirmation it leaves us wondering how Sephiroth's calm statement became an exclamation, assuming Sephiroth is even still the speaker in the "Watch out! This isn't just a reactor!!" line.


EDIT #3:

Spoiler: Aaaaand for extra good measure here is my transcription of the full paragraph

カームでの回想​

​

神羅屋敷地下にて​

​

セフィロス「クラウドよ。あの魔晄炉はただの発電所じゃない。​

神羅の本当の目的はもっと別のところにあるんだ」​

クラウド「どういうことだ？」​

セフィロス「この星の大地に染みこんでいるエネルギーは、た​

だのエネルギーではない。そもそもこれはどこからきているの​

だと思う？われわれの科学では計り知れない物質がどこから​

生まれてくる？何もないところからくるのか？この星が作​

り出しているのか？そしてこのエネルギーが行き着くところ​

は何なのか？ただ電気を灯すだけの電力なのか？​

うじゃない。神羅はその本当の潜在力に気づき出したんだ。そ​

の実験がこの魔晄炉さ。そして俺も……」​

​

​

※製品版での壱番魔晄炉爆破時にクラウドの頭に響く「ここはただの発電所じゃ​

ない」という声は、もともと上記のセフィロスとの会話からきていた。​

 

[Jairus]

While I don't have the Japanese transcription of the Early Material File in front of me, the general consensus is that the line

"Watch out! This isn't just a reactor!!"​

Spoiler: Japanese line

目をさませ！​

ここはただの発電所じゃない！！​

is a remnant from a scrapped Nibelheim flashback script.

Sephiroth: "Cloud. That mako reactor is no ordinary power plant."​

While it is definitely possible that Sephiroth's calm line was at some point changed to the loud "ここはただの発電所じゃない！！" during development, I'd still like to have more data on the topic.

Cool, very interesting stuff. Didn't know about that scrapped scene. If the voice did belong to Sephiroth, wouldn't Cloud have recognized it? Since even in his hybrid Clack state, he remembered Sephiroth very clearly and heard his voice after the Sector 7 plate fell and specifically mentions Sephiroth. So that shows he knew his voice.

Also, considering it seems to be from a scene that was dropped, how does that line figure into the story without that scene as it is in the final game?

 

[Shademp]

If the voice did belong to Sephiroth, wouldn't Cloud have recognized it?

It's entirely possible Cloud did recognize the voice in that moment in Mako Reactor #1, he just doesn't share that information with the player/audience. The main reason we don't recognize the voice is because the game is text-based.

considering it seems to be from a scene that was dropped, how does that line figure into the story without that scene as it is in the final game?

The bit of dialogue doesn't seem to easily fit back into the continuity in the scenes as they unfolded in the final game. We'd really have to apply our imaginations here. Maybe it could be a moment where Zack warns Cloud of the hibernating makonoids in the Nibel reactor?

 

[pxp]

I always interpreted it (on subsequent play throughs) to be a reference to the Nibel Reactor and the horrors it stores in there, since that was the last reactor Cloud visited. And indeed, the flashback to Tifa outside the front of the Nibel reactor in the next reactor 5 flashback sort of hardened my stance on that.

 

[Roger]

Wonder if the bridge collapse was meant to split up the party, with Zack and Tifa falling and Cloud and Sephiroth already on the other side, making it to the Mako Reactor first, that way Sephiroth warning doesn't appear until the real Nibelheim flashback.

 

[Jairus]

It's entirely possible Cloud did recognize the voice in that moment in Mako Reactor #1, he just doesn't share that information with the player/audience. The main reason we don't recognize the voice is because the game is text-based.


The bit of dialogue doesn't seem to easily fit back into the continuity in the scenes as they unfolded in the final game. We'd really have to apply our imaginations here. Maybe it could be a moment where Zack warns Cloud of the hibernating makonoids in the Nibel reactor?

It's a possibility, but during the first visit, Cloud is outside the whole time, and Zack doesn't know anything about the makonoids until he goes inside. On the second visit, I believe he gets there before Cloud does, which would leave him with no opportunity to warn Cloud about the reactor.

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

Page 68 of the Ultimania Omega says that this voice is the original Cloud trying to trigger Cloud's memories of the truth of five years past by pointing to the similarities in the design of the reactors.

"目をさませ！" should have probably been less "Watch out!" than "Open your eyes!" or "Wake up!"

 

[Jairus]

Page 68 of the Ultimania Omega says that this voice is the original Cloud trying to trigger Cloud's memories of the truth of five years past by pointing to the similarities in the design of the reactors.

"目をさませ！" should have probably been less "Watch out!" than "Open your eyes!" or "Wake up!"

Thanks for checking that out, that clears things up nicely.

 

[Shademp]

Tres wins the thread.

- Page 68 piece

Transcription because I was really in the mood for transcribing things today.

Spoiler: Page 68 story check

CHECK 謎の声

爆弾を設置しようとしたクラウ
ドに呼びかける謎の声。以降も、
このような謎の声がクラウドの頭
に響いたり、声とクラウドが会話
する場面が、くり返し挿入される。
これらは、本来のクラウド自身と、
宝条の実験を境にザックスの人格
が混ざって形成された「現在のク
ラウド」、そしてセフィロス・コ
ピーとしてのクラウドという、複

数の人格のせめぎ合いにより起き
ているものだ(→P.11)。
この壱番魔晄炉の場面では、5
年前にニブルへイムの魔晄炉を指
してセフィロスが言ったセリフを、
同じ「魔晄炉」という場所を訪れた
ことをきっかけに、クラウドが思
い出している。もっとも、そのも
とになったセリフを、回想シーン
などで聞くことはできない。


目をさませ！


↑「目をさませ」という呼びかけは、古代
種の神殿などではクラウドを人形化させ
ようとするセフィロスの言葉として出て
くるが、この場面ではちがう。


▲STORY CHECK

 

[Clement Rage]

Weird. How did I know that? I never paid any attention to deleted scenes etc.