Plot Theories

[Alardem]

Given the aforementioned Lovecraftian atmospheres, the possible outer space setting, and the fact that all the worst entities in Lovecraft's universe come from deep, unimaginable reaches of space, the antagonists of the game could be supernatural. A being like Nyarlathotep, the supposed "soul" of the amoral Outer Gods, could twist and warp the AI of the ship to turn on its crew in some horrifying way. I mean, Nyarlathotep's a jerk like that, and was ostensibly very good with technology in the books.

He (or it) also had a tendency to punish humans who delved too far into the mysteries of the outer universe. If people in SOMA are busy copying themselves, melding machine and man to achieve some kind of immortality, such a being might take affront and sabotage our efforts as punishment.

I hope something like this is the case, because I preferred the incomprehensible "Shadow" in the Dark Descent.

Someone argued that an entity like Nyarlathothep was also the one behind Mandus' madness in A Machine For Pigs.

Personally, I hope we don't resort to the cliche of "man delving into things they shouldn't." Because, frankly, if the universe in which Frictional's games take place is chock-full of entities offended by humans, then it goes against the whole idea of human insignificance. Plus the Shadow was a rather rubbish antagonist IMO.

That being said, I would enjoy the idea of coming across alien entities in SOMA. Or machines created by aliens. Blending technology with 'magic', or blurring the lines between the two, is an idea that really needs to be explored more.