If Not For Us

This is the sixtieth episode of SAYER, and the first episode of Season Five.

Synopsis
Before panic sets in, let's assess your situation.

Further Information
The episode opens with a recruitment ad for Ærolith Dynamics featuring Omaha Rains. He gives a brief overview of the creation of Typhon, the asteroid that had impacted the Pacific Northwest and was salvaged to create a safer off-Earth research base, and implores people of all occupations to apply to work there.

On Typhon, SAYER welcomes new arrival Resident Smythe to Orion Tower (after some difficulties that have left them feeling potentially unwell), and introduces itself as a highly-advanced, self-aware AI tasked with onboarding new employees. It also introduces Orion as the newest tower, and Resident Smythe as the first resident to arrive there. As it is a new facility, they will be tasked with performing safety tests before other residents arrive. To that end, SAYER encourages the resident to walk directly at a door before them; when they hesitate to do so, it informs them of efforts in Halcyon Tower to produce self-opening doors, providing enough motivation for Resident Smythe to walk toward and collide with what is actually a normal door. SAYER critiques this part of the test before instructing the resident to use the doorknob to exit into the hallway. From the hallway, SAYER encourages Resident Smythe to enter another room.

Once they do, it issues a high-level alert advising that there is a fire in the tower and that the fire suppression system is not functioning. The alert instructs off-duty residents to make their way to a safe location, but not to use the elevators to do so; rather, if they see an open elevator, they should encourage it. On-duty residents are instructed to check their datapads for instructions; most will be ordered to evacuate, but some may be asked to continue their research.

After the alert has concluded, SAYER asks for Resident Smythe's assessment of how reassuring it was before urging them to hurry to evacuate. When they attempt to do so, their hand is burned by the hot doorknob and SAYER notes that it should include mention of testing them for heat in the alert going forward. In an additional attempt to escape, Resident Smythe begins attempting to break a window, which SAYER explains is actually an LCD display that disguises the fact that they are on Floor 47. Still, they break it open, and SAYER has the idea that in the future, Typhon's gravity amplifiers may be manipulated to slow the fall of evacuating residents and research projects—although that is not currently possible.

At this point, SAYER informs the resident that the fire is merely a simulation, as is the entirety of Orion Tower around them. It elaborates that the tower does not yet actually exist, and that Resident Smythe's isolation pod caught fire in transit from Earth due to an exposed electrical short. The resident themself was badly burned and has lost four of the five major senses (retaining touch), and as a result, they were selected to perform tests to identify how residents might behave under stress.

Before leaving Resident Smythe to rest before the next test, SAYER offers that they may someday have a new body courtesy of 3D printing technology in development in Halcyon Tower.

Trivia

 * All Season Five episodes (from this one until "Poisoning The Well") are prequel episodes that take place before Season One.
 * As these episodes take place before the institution of the policy that AI must identify residents at the start of one-to-one broadcasts, the resident identification numbers of most single-appearance residents (Resident Smythe included) are not mentioned.
 * Unlike previous episodes featuring new arrivals, SAYER does not offer to read Resident Smythe the recommended new resident welcome script.
 * The fact that researchers are "working on" the issue of Resident Smythe being the only resident of the simulation they inhabit may imply that they are looking for more residents in similar situations, but may also imply that a similar process is underway as was used with Halcyon Minor.
 * SAYER mentions that "a fully fire-proof door" has been developed, and these may have been used later in "Dayenu" to seal the infirmary and contain the spread of a fire there.
 * SAYER's idea of manipulating Typhon's artificial gravity does later (partially) interrupt one resident's descent from the roof of Halcyon Tower in "A Drastic Impact", although it occurs for power conservation and not because of an evacuation.
 * As of this episode, isolation pods have a 99.978% success rate for delivering residents on time, to the correct location, and in good condition.
 * Before the end of the season, the 3D printing technology which SAYER alludes to has been perfected in the form of the manufab stations.

Credits
SAYER is voiced, written, and produced by Adam Bash.

Intro and outro music by Jesse "Main Finger" Gregory.

Additional music by Kai Engel, Airglow, and Mystery Mammal.

Listen to the episode here.