Original artwork, not a still
Look at you, hacker: a pathetic creature of meat and bone, panting and sweating as you run through my corridors. How can you challenge a perfect, immortal machine?
— System Shock · 1994
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
Two sentences hold the whole creed of the machine villain: flesh is a malfunction, and the player is an insect with a pulse. 'Meat and bone' became the way fans quote SHODAN, and the line set a tone that later game AIs, GLaDOS among them, are still measured against. The remake's trailers put it front and centre, a sign the original attitude still sells.
Context reviewed
In context
Spoilers for System ShockShow the scene
This is one of SHODAN's taunts in the 1994 System Shock, spoken by the rogue AI that has taken over Citadel Station while the unnamed hacker fights through its decks. Wikiquote lists it among her messages, alongside threats to loose a mutagen virus on Earth. SHODAN is voiced by Terri Brosius, and the line came back in trailers for the System Shock remake.
Sources (3)
- Wikiquote: System ShockSHODAN quotesReference checked
- System Shock wiki: Direct MessagesSystem Shock (Remake) / TrailersReference checked
- System Shock wiki: SHODANInfoboxReference checked
Context reviewed