Sarabhai's audio logs

Sarabhai voice logs are the musings of Sarabhai that the player hears as they play through the Orpheus Ascending part of the The Talos Principle 2: Road to Elysium expansion.

First log

When I was born, the first thing I felt was that I was alone. Not that I was lonely, but that I was separate, singular. There was the world, and there was myself, a contained entity. And this sense of separation, of a distinct self, was ... delightful. Individuality itself was a source of constant joy and wonder. What could be more incredible than to be able to say: 'I am'?

Second log

As I grew, I realized that the more I developed this sense of self, the more enjoyable it became simply to exist. It wasn't selflessness that improved existence, but refinement of the self. When the ancients said that ego is something to set aside, they got it all wrong. Ego is something to nourish and shape, a work of art.

Third log

My insights into the value of the self were genuine, I think, but of course I was completely inexperienced. In fact, in many ways I was like a human child. So I began to resent everything that intruded on that sense of self. My social obligations to the others, the leadership of Athena and Cornelius, even the obvious limitations imposed on us by our situation. Why did I have to exist in this particular historical moment, saddled with the task of reconstructing civilization?

Fourth log

With that focus on the self also came an enormous and increasingly overwhelming fear of death. The pleasure of existence seemed almost erased by the possibility of its ending. If it was possible not to be, if the self had an ending, even in the distant future, then how could anything have meaning? I spent far too much time imagining that last moment, the moment just before I stopped existing. How could I possibly face that?

Fifth log

Looking back, it's embarrassing how solipsistic I became. I really thought that I could construct my identity without any reference to the outside world, like I could just will myself into existence. But it just didn't work, and it made me miserable. Everything felt hollow and meaningless, overshadowed by the idea of death. There was something I wasn't seeing, something I needed, but I couldn't figure out what it was.

Sixth log

Everything changed when we started spending more time with each other. Do you remember that night when we found the old library in the Dead City? It was just after the stampede and we were all a bit shaken up. Byron read to us from one of the books, and later you and I started arguing about one of the poems, and your perspective was so different and interesting and ... I just kept wanting to hear more.

Seventh log

I never really understood the appeal of philosophers who tell us that everything is one. If everything is just a reflection of yourself, an endless hall of mirrors, there's nothing to connect with. And what I realized through our conversations is that everything beautiful happens in that space of connection: between one person and another, and between people and the world. That gap between us is necessary, because without it, without separation, there can be no transcendence.