Tau

Site Tau
Chief Factor	Vic Auclair
Depth	4114m (13497ft)
Channel Code	2206
Omicron	Alpha

“Tau is a modular research platform for studying deep sea life, and human life, in extreme conditions.”

― Site Tau; Slideshow Narrator^[src]

Site Tau is the deep sea research station of PATHOS-II.

Description

Over 4,000 meters below the surface, Tau is PATHOS-II's only facility in the Omega Sector suited for permanent human residence. Tau is located partway between Omicron and Phi, where it facilitates the transport of various payloads to the Omega Space Gun at Phi. Unlike the other sites, Tau is not a truly permanent structure, being uniquely constructed from high-pressure cabin, tunnel, and door modules. On account of the extreme environment, life at Tau is rather dangerous, and the station is dependent on regular checkups from its neighbor, Omicron.

Aside from providing living quarters to the Phi crew, Tau does not serve any obvious, major role in the operation of PATHOS-II. Known only to Johan Ross, Julia Dahl, and Mark Sarang, however, Tau is the cover to PATHOS-II's best-kept secret, site Alpha. With the WAU core just a short walk away, Tau ensures that the Carthage Industries employees, namely Dr. Ross, are able to maintain the WAU while hiding in plain sight.

Appearances

On September 13, 2103, the personnel of Tau attempted to evacuate to Omicron, but ultimately failed to reach the Climber and were forced back to their home facility by murderous wildlife. Many were killed during the attempt, save for Johan Ross, Steve Glasser, Neil Tsiolkovsky, Antjie Coetzee, and Vic Auclair. The station and its surviving staff soon lost radio contact with Omicron. This, along with Julia Dahl's somewhat dishonest report on the disaster evacuation, led the remaining residents of PATHOS-II to write off all Tau staff as dead and the station as derelict. Supply runs to Tau completely ceased. By the time the station was visited by the ARK transport team three months later, the remaining Tau personnel were suffering greatly from malnutrition and sickness.

On November 19th, 2103, Antjie Coetzee made a run to the observation sub-station near Tau in hope of finding rations, though, as speculated by Dr. Johan Ross, it may have been a failed suicide attempt. After that, as described in Item #4540, she climbed the Omega Space Gun's barrel in order to reach platform Omega.

On December 25, 2103, the ARK transport team, consisting of Catherine Chun, Sarah Lindwall, Nicolai Ivashkin, Ian Pedersen, and Jasper Hill, arrived at Tau, where they were joined by Neil Tsiolkovsky. From there, they transported the ARK to Phi, during which Tsiolkovsky was killed by a landslide. The next day, the distraught team, minus Catherine, returned to Tau with the ARK in tow, having decided to postpone the launch.

On December 27, 2103, Ross and Glasser took the Climber that was originally scheduled to pick up the ARK team, seeing an opportunity to try once more to reach Omicron and warn PATHOS-II about the critical situation with the WAU and site Alpha. On the way to the Climbing Station, Glasser is ripped apart by a mutated sea creature. Ross successfully gets himself aboard the Climber, though he had sustained severe injuries and is later found comatose when Omicron recalls the Climber.

In SOMA

Taumap — A floor plan of Tau, seen on the ARK tracker in Lambda

After crossing the Abyss, Simon Jarrett finds Tau abandoned and wrecked, with huge quantities of structure gel claiming large areas of the station. Upon opening a large vault door, he encounters the mutated Jin Yoshida hiding in the entryway. Yoshida quickly gives chase, but Simon manages to evade the hostile abomination, ultimately making his way to Tau's common area. He explores the living quarters, finding most of the ARK transport team members—either dead or in the process of being reanimated by the WAU—and is periodically urged by Dr. Ross to leave Tau.

Inside Tau's infirmary, Simon discovers the activated ARK under the guard of the last surviving human being, Sarah Lindwall. Trapped for many months at Tau without supplies, and later, without any living companions, Lindwall is extremely weak and is relying on a life support machine. After conversing with her, she pauses the ARK simulation and allows Simon to take the ARK, with her final request being that he turn off her life support. Simon has the choice of whether or not to fulfill her request.

Simon transports the ARK to Tau's dive room, where he hooks it up to the cargo transport system leading to Phi. The water pumps fail during the airlock sequence, requiring Simon to break the pipes and flood the room. Eventually, the exit opens up, and the ARK is carried along a rail down the tunnel to Phi. Simon runs after the ARK through the tunnel, but is forced to stop at a collapsed section. He retraces his steps, quickly bumping into Dr. Ross, who directs him to a glowing hole in the side of tunnel. Simon proceeds through the hole, following a natural cave tunnel until he stumbles upon the forbidden site Alpha.

Personnel

Vic Auclair – Chief Factor
Antjie Coetzee – Space Gun Operator^note
Renata Espinosa – Field Worker
Steve Glasser – Function title unknown
Johan Ross – A.I. Psychologist
Abbo Sendeyo – Dispatcher
Neil Tsiolkovsky – Function title unknown
Jin Yoshida – Function title unknown

Behind the Scenes

There's a discrepancy of recorded dates regarding the events previous to SOMA. Ross remarks the arrival of the ARK team on December 25 and later, on December 26, Ross writes in his log that “Some of the engineers returned from Phi. Apparently they postponed the ARK launch...". But there's a log on site Phi that remarks the entrance of Catherine, Sarah, Nicolai, Ian, and Jasper only on December 27 and that they left the same day, except for Catherine.