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I was in the pilot seat, remoting a UH – I was just dealing with some heat shields and... that's my last clear memory.
Carl Semken[src]
Carl Semken
Carl Semken
Died
May 4, 2103
Aged mid 30s to 40s[1]
Upsilon, PATHOS-II
Status
Deceased
Nationality
Unknown, possibly
Norway Norwegian
Friends
Amy Azzaro

Actor David Menkin

Carl Semken was a Wrangler on PATHOS-II, stationed at Upsilon. In SOMA, he appears prominently throughout the Upsilon section of the game.

Biography[]

Carl Semken and Amy Azzaro are shown to be good friends, most evident by Amy's lighthearted drawings found at Upsilon, concentrated near Semken's Mockingbird.

Sometime prior to April 2103, Semken reported uncharacteristic levels of nausea after remote controlling a UH3 using a pilot seat. According to Amy Azzaro, the diagnostics showed a spike of electromagnetism surrounding the helmet, caused by the WAU using the pilot seat to create a neurograph of Semken. This was one of the first known instances of it happening.

In April 2103, Upsilon was evacuated and its staff was transferred to Theta. Carl Semken and his colleague, Amy Azzaro, remained to set up the Upsilon facility in a way that would keep its thermal plant running and to secure the power production for the entirety of PATHOS-II while the staff was absent by sealing blocks to prevent Mockingbirds from breaking anything.

On May 4, 2103, at 14:11:54, Semken contacted Peter Strasky, telling him that he and Amy would leave for Theta soon, and to send help if they didn't show up. Sometime after 14:11, while Semken and Azzaro were close to finishing their task, Semken was attacked and killed by a Mockingbird that became psychotic and violent. Amy would avenge Carl seconds later by killing this Mockingbird.

In SOMA[]

While Simon Jarrett explores Upsilon, he finds a damaged Mockingbird containing Carl Semken's brain scan. The robotic unit believes itself to be a wounded human and begs Simon to call for help. When Simon confronts Semken about his current condition, he reacts in a surprised manner, angrily denying his current state.

Simon later discovers that he will need to divert power to the communications center in order to access it. To do so, he can pull the nearby lever, diverting power to the communications center, but also causing Semken extreme pain, evidenced by the auxiliary power tube that passes over Semken's broken mockingbird.

Alternatively, Simon can disable the reactor flow in the far room. Doing so will redirect power, shutting down Semken's Mockingbird in the process, effectively killing him. This will also attract the attention of the Construct to the area.

If you flip the switch without realizing you will hurt Semken, there is a moment where you can turn it back off. Semken will be shaken, but he will forgive you. If you leave the switch for too long, however, Semken will go into a catatonic state, and only respond to pain if you flip the switch again.

Behind the Scenes[]

  • Originally, Semken would have a WAU flower growing near him. If Simon was to interact with it, he would plead for him to stop before dying when Simon touches it. There are still voices lines for this event in the game's files.

Gallery[]

Concept art[]

In-game[]

Other[]

References[]

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