Alina Seo
Alina Seo was a Gestalt (non-replika human) worker at Sierpinski S-23 as well as a Veteran of the Vinetan War.
Alina is one of the more confusing characters of the game, who draws heavy questioning into what exactly is real or not concerning her, and various theories and explanations have differing thoughts as to the nature of this character.
Lore[edit]
Our first notice of Alina comes from the photograph that Elster carries around. This photograph during the prologue showcased Ariane's face however between ReEducation and the end of Medical it instead showcases Alina's[1]
This demonstrates how Elster for the first half of the game believed that her lost lover that she was searching for was Alina Seo.
We see Alina's face again on a security pass for the West Wing, This pass states that it is a workers pass which places her a lower ranked regular worker in the facility.[2]
Diaries[edit]
We learn more about Alina from her diaries these diaries described her experience within the facility as Humans and Replikas began to become corrupted. Her diaries states as follows:
Feeling a little light-headed today. I hope it's not that new flu that seems to be going around... I can't afford to miss any more shifts. That Storch at the factory was chewing me out for what felt like hours for fainting at work the last time I got a cold. I haven't seen Elster the last few days, I hope she's okay... more and more people go missing in the mine lately, including Replikas. Not even the Protektors seem to be safe...[3]
Something is wrong. Nobody will tell me what's happening, but ever since i woke up, everyone has been behaving strangely. The Protektors won't let me leave my room and return to work even though the wound from my fall is already healed. I think there must have been an accident in the mine... I overheard two Eules whispering in front of my room that they're running out of staff. I'm worried that something has happened to Elster - I haven't heard from her in a while. I can't just sit around here any longer...[4]
It's worse than I thought. Everyone has disappeared. I still haven't found any trace of Elster... it's as if she had never been here. Something's wrong with the Protektors - those that are still around. A guard spotted me earlier sneaking out of the Medical Wing, and she let out a monstrous scream as she chased after me. When I looked back, I saw her face, and now I can't forget. It looked like she'd been in some horrible accident...[5]
How long has it been that I'm down here? How did I get here? Where is this place and why am I here? My memory feels so blurry-As if I had always been here, forever. Even my hair is slowly turning white. I remember my name, and I remember my life. But I also remember a different name, and a different life, and it feels like the line between her and me is blurring the longer I stay here. - Alina[6]
These diary entries cover the slow fall of the facility as well as Arianes slow rewriting of Alina. However they suddenly stop after the fourth entry creating a problem as to what was the fate of this character.
These diaries also showcase how Alina remembers Elster (LSTR-S2301), despite most everybody else not remembering she ever existed, and showcases how she begins her diaries awakening from an injury.
Later on, we see pictures of her on a photograph wearing a military uniform presumably next to Lilith Itou along with other postcards depicting different officers. This photo is labeled People's Army 5th Vinetan Infantry Division Unit 12 signifying that Alina once served in the armed forces one notable thing about this photo is that it showcases that Alina had red eyes prior to the time at S-23.[7]
This postcard is also referenced by Iris who notes that Ariane noted that it was interesting how much of a resemblance she, Ariane, has to Alina. [8]
Theories[edit]
Alina Seo is a character that is the epicenter of various theories and explanations that attempt to explain away some of the mystery that surrounds this figure.
Alina is the Dreaming Ariane[edit]
One approach to understand the mystery around Alina is that she is the embodiment of Ariane's sleeping form. This line of reasoning uses the diaries which retell her as being someone who loves Elster, someone the original Alina wouldn't have known, as well as the fact that Alina's first entry in S-23 occurs after she awoke from an injury in the mines could symbolize her being an awoken form of Ariane. This explanation explains the overall confusion that surrounds her explaining why a Veteran of the War would be at a mining colony, and why that veteran would have the butterfly box which contains a Bioresonant Seal of the King in Yellow.
However this explanation holds issues when one considers her final diary, where she that she still remembers her life, not identifying Ariane as herself but as an outsider. This line of explanation is very similar to the recharacterization that Falke describes which wouldn't suggest that Alina is Ariane but rather that due to Recharacterization, a process that is connotated by the King, Alina becomes Ariane.
Alina becomes the Dreaming Ariane of Finality[edit]
This Alternative theory removes the original idea that Alina was Ariane, and instead wagers that, at the end of the game, the Ariane we see is not Ariane, but rather is Alina. This explanation seeks to explain why Alina seems to go missing, but also aligns with theories that focus on reality or finality. The Finality theories, in particular, wager that the final death of Ariane is unimportant to Finality as a whole, and having that death be Alina would support that notion.
The diaries point to Alina becoming Ariane with her hair turning white and her memories becoming blurred with Ariane's memories. The endings show "Ariane" with bandages on her face, like Alina's medical picture. The "Elster" she's referring to in the diary entries is LSTR-S2301, not LSTR-512, a Elster that used to exist in one timeline and that she still remembers, but most everybody else has forgotten about.
This theory also adds context to the Memory ending, since Alina may have needed more time before she fully "becomes" Ariane, so Elster seeing Alina too soon may have caused her to not recognize Elster. If the player plays for a longer period of time, they have a better chance to see the Promise ending.
The issues with this theory is that, if one approaches Signalis from a Dream Centric Approach, then this makes little to no sense, as Alina is painted as just an avatar of the dream, who cannot be conflated to the Dreamer itself. But, if the events on Leng and the rest of the planets are real, which the Dream Diary and references to The King in Yellow strongly suggest, then Alina is just a pawn to the cosmic horrors that invade the multiple civilizations. They use Ariane's Bioresonance to turn Alina into a fake Ariane, possibly even an amplifier of Ariane's dream, so that Elster can try and fail multiple times to reach her, corrupting reality in the process.
Gallery[edit]
A picture of Alina Seo with Lilith Itou.
"Seo, Alina", one of the names on the photograph.
A picture of Alina Seo with Lilith Itou (No picture frame)
