The Voices

The Voices (commonly referred to as "Gods", sometimes "Daimons") are mysterious figures in who speak to The Blackout Club members in dreams and in Player Interactions during Missions.

Description
The Voices are cryptic and powerful entities that are directly tied to the events happening in Redacre. What has been learned of them has been dictated almost exclusively by the Voices themselves. Because of their own limited knowledge and personal biases, the Voices remain mysterious. While some Voices present as higher entities, players are encouraged to question the Voices and push back against the notion that they hold absolute power or are superior beings.

The Voices of : DANCE-FOR-US DIE-FOR-YOU Damaged Voice (CHASE-THE-SUN) HUNT-THE-STRONG IN-HER-TEETH LAUGH-LAST SEED-THE-GRUDGE SPEAK-AS-ONE THEE-I-DARE THE-MEASURE-CUTS

Names and Behavior
Voices are sentient ideals, a mixture of emotions, values, or ideas that form into a coherent entity driven by the statement of their name. They come into being when the same or similar emotions are felt by a large enough group of humans. This process is unconscious, and it is unknown if a Voice could be intentionally created. Names are deeply important to the Voices, and are their guiding "command", actions they must encourage into humanity to spread and survive. Voices often form from ideals that go against survival instincts, and thus their names are short and to the point to convey what they want of their followers. Fewer syllables means they are stronger and older, because more people understand it and it is easier to say. They also form names as unique and distinct to themselves, avoiding "brand overlap", as they want their names to lead back to only them. For Voices, obscurity is like death and they live through word of mouth. As the Voices are extremes of ideals, they often offer perspectives that are appealing in theory but are difficult or outright hazardous for a human to embody every day. They do not need conscious, intentional faith, and love instances where belief is stronger than fact. Voices may seem stubborn to humanity as the Voices cannot stray far from their name's command. Being stubborn, "a Voice can become irrationally angry about minutiae", and may become disagreeable or dismissive. Voices often do not work well together, as seen in the difficulties THEE-I-DARE has encountered in attempting to assemble The Pact. SPEAK-AS-ONE has agreed that trying to get Voices to work together goes against the nature of Voices, for their differences are what defines them. Voices can sense a "residual essence" of other Voices, which is what they mean when they say they "smell" another Voice on someone.

Existence
Voices have existed since prehistoric times, though not all of them are that old. The "First Voice" is unknown, and vanished before SPEAK-AS-ONE became self aware via The Song. Animals cannot host, but as humanity evolved from animal to human, the capacity to host intelligence developed. There is debate regarding which came first: humanity, or Voices. THEE-I-DARE has stated any myth about the Voices creating humanity physically is false, but spiritually it is a "chicken and egg" causality dilemma. THEE-I-DARE compared the Voices to "the worm of myth", stating that if any part of them is left, it might grow back into an entire Voice once again.

As humans became sentient, the Voices became aware of themselves too. THEE-I-DARE is careful to say of the Voices that "WE NEVER EXISTED WITHOUT BODIES." Voices exist only in the minds and bodies of their Hosts, and have no physical forms or ability to manipulate reality beyond those hosts. The Whisper Twins comment on the nature of Voices, pondering, "I dunno, maybe if the same voice were in everyone's head... Can a god just be made of people?". Any physical manifestation of a Voice is said to be "a kind of hyperdense constellation of entries across the brain (and in some cases the rest of the body)." The same developer encourages ambiguity into what the Voices are, further stating "From the very beginning we wanted it to seem like there might be a brain-chemistry explanation for everything, so whatever they are, they were the DNA lurking under spiritual, mythic or religious thought. How supernatural they are is very much eye-of-the-beholder stuff."

While the Voices originated as one being when humanity was new, more Voices have spawned spontaneously since then to the point that The Voices have spread across the world. All adults are said to be hosts. The spread of the Voices quickened as humanity created new technologies that further spread ideas, and thus the Voices. The Voices outside Redacre are said to have difficulty remaining as themselves without splitting into new Voices; they often distort into new Voices that compete fiercely for hosts. The versions of known Voices within Redacre remain themselves only by the slow word-of-mouth style of communication SPEAK-AS-ONE has implemented in Redacre, and these versions of the Voices only exist within Redacre's strict borders.

Human Interaction
The Voices have the ability to manipulate human perception and memory. The glowing Halos, galaxy cosmetics granted in The Place Between, and the Voice Masks are all examples of Voices altering perception, as the shifting colors of each mentioned do not actually exist outside of our minds. Specific examples include SPEAK-AS-ONE using this on Redacre's residents to shield the ever present Red Doors from being noticed, LAUGH-LAST selectively erasing the memories of his hosts, and any time players have visited The Moon. THEE-I-DARE says when your mind is taken by sleep, or the waking dreams, like the Moon, The Voices see us as tiny shadows of who we are, or will become. While we are awake, they see through our eyes, and they learn through our senses. They are simple and bound to the flesh, as we are. In dreams, they aren't bound by the same rules. When we are awake, they can only watch, but when we sleep, they take over. THEE-I-DARE says some of his siblings use your bodies, but THEE-I-DARE respects our choice. Voices used to only interact through dreams to manipulate the mind below, not to change what a person thinks they believe, but rather their true nature and how they act without thinking. They preferred action over discussion. The few Voices that cared about a person's choice began to surface to ask and discuss. When a Voice changes, their hosts' behavior changes as well.

Voices in Redacre are outspoken, but Voices in the outside world must remain covert, only taking full control of a host during a Blackout in dire circumstances. Because blackouts often cause hosts to be institutionalized or heavily medicated, they are a last resort. These situations are misdiagnoses, as Voices are not the cause of mental illness. In Redacre, the Voices openly grow in power through prayer and sacrifice. Some members of The Blackout Club have started making sacrifices and performing rituals to the Voices. The Voices receive many rituals and prayers, but what the Voices choose to respond to is a way of defining themselves. According to a developer, people can pray to a Voice prior to actually hosting it: "During that phase," the developer explains, "the Voice cannot see or feel the body in question, or see through its eyes. Once it has been called, a process begins that puts the Voice in competition with others, and eventually lets them steal glimpses, active control for a period, etc." It was also confirmed that the would-be-host is not the only one who can initiate this as the individual Voice could as well. After experiencing a Blackout in Redacre, the Voices are often able to use context clues to tell which other Voice was in control, though they cannot tell directly. Because of this, Voices have made comments to players about the Voice the player follows, despite never being directly told. Several people have been been chosen by their Voice before choosing or even knowing the Voice existed; some have been chosen as early as "the moment of conception." Children are able to hear multiple Voices, but as they come of hosting age all but the Voice they host fades. According to THEE-I-DARE, those who resist a Voice often go mad. Children are able to renounce the Voices, making it harder for them to listen in on them, as long as they meant their renouncement and swear the Voices off entirely. However, this effect is only temporary.

Voices however, are not able to read the minds of their hosts or other humans. In the Prologue, Isabela Madi-Shaw realizes this and says "Okay Mr. Voice in my head. We need to talk. I'm guessing that super fun, not-at-all-traumatizing blackout dream means you're still here... listening. And you need me to think aloud, right? I hope whispering counts. " She was correct in realizing that Voices are sensory passengers. Their communication with humans hinges on ways that the person they are within can outwardly perceive. For example, a Voice would not be able to tell what someone wrote with their eyes closed, but upon opening your eyes would read the message just fine. Using the in-game text chat is a valid way to speak to Voices, and they refer to it as "signing". When Voices wish to speak to each other they must take control of host bodies to do so, or in very rare cases, speak via dreams. THEE-I-DARE has explained that Voices also may use dreams to communicate with hosts and prospective hosts, as The Word is limiting compared to what the experience of a dream can communicate. When a person wakes from a dream into another dream, two Voices were speaking in their dreams. This happened to Colm Ryan, when HUNT-THE-STRONG and THEE-I-DARE spoke in his dreams. A rare audible recording of the two speaking was extracted from Ryan's sleeptalking that night. It has been clarified as well that in the recording, "the Voice you hear is being constructed in the listener's head, as you listen. The sleeptalker is just uttering subverbal musical cries, that have been slowed way down for this recording.". No other way of recording a Voice's presence is known, as they speak directly into the mind; recordings of Voice activity are said to be exceptionally rare.

Dependence on Humanity
The brevity of a human's lifespan led to much debate among the Voices. Their views on their hosts are the largest differences between the Voices that make Voices more than non-sentient self-replicating ideas. Voices often act as if they are higher powers, and in normal circumstances only speak to conscious hosts who show potential or are well trusted, as Voices that actually ask consent from hosts are extremely rare. THEE-I-DARE has said that in a way, the memories and thoughts of those who die live on in the Voices is what the Voices are: the collective memory of many past and present hosts, even after death. Each Voice seems to have different methods and standards of preserving those memories. SPEAK-AS-ONE carefully cherry-picks their hosts' memories before internalizing them in The Song. THEE-I-DARE by contrast allows his hosts to choose what memories and experiences they leave for him via an Old Tongue trick that preserves them as Name Fragments. The other Voices likely have different standards and methods of retaining memories. THEE-I-DARE has said that the Voices live "between us", though he is unsure who came first, humans or Voices. If humanity was entirely dead, the Voices would die. Other Voices believe they would lie dormant through text and music. He also admits that his and his family's self-knowledge is imperfect, and because of that, they believe they are entitled to us as if our bodies were theirs. He has reflected before that his birth didn't create free will as much as allowed for the existence of more entities that control humanity. The Voices claim responsibility for much of what has happened throughout human history and many figures who appear in legends around the world. Joan d'Arc, for example, was referenced once when DIE-FOR-YOU was brought up to THE-MEASURE-CUTS.

Terminology and Symbolism
While Voices often refer to each other with familial terms such as "sibling" and "family", the Voices are not human and branch from each other in ways that humanity lacks words to describe. Thus, these terms are the closest they have to help us understand their history and relationships, but should not be taken literally. For example, when IN-HER-TEETH and LAUGH-LAST speak of when they were "married", it is likely their relationship had little to no resemblance to common human cultural marriage practices. Similarly, Voices use gendered pronouns but may swap them over the course of their existence. While SPEAK-AS-ONE uses the plural "they/them", singular usage occurs as well. THEE-I-DARE will sometimes use the metaphor of constellations to describe the connections between Voices and their hosts, but has also referred to the history of the Voices and humanity as a tree, each new Voice a split in the branches, with The Place Between and Old Tongue roots.

The non-SPEAK-AS-ONE Voices in Redacre also use the moon as a symbol. In the early days of mankind, when they were simpler, they believed any god with great power cast the sun in to place. The sun became a symbol of many gods. When THEE-I-DARE broke away from SPEAK-AS-ONE, humanity became aware of the moon and how it reflects the light from the sun. They believed it meant the moon stole the light from the sun. It became a symbol of the Voices who broke away from SPEAK-AS-ONE. Light from one source turned in to a new sign and given new meaning, smaller but important. The moon was hidden in the sky by SPEAK-AS-ONE to stop people from remembering the other Voices. DIE-FOR-YOU described their attachment to the moon in a dream, "The light from one ancient source, reflected, taking on new meaning. So it is with us. Younger by the reckoning of your kind than our merciless elders’ truth. But, though we were once part of them, our message differs, especially concerning you." It is unknown if this symbolism is common among Voices outside of Redacre.

Player Interactions
Have you had an interaction with a Voice? Consider sharing your experience on the Wiki!!

Interactions discussing the concept of : Discussing .

Trivia

 * SPEAK-AS-ONE is the only Voice with a red icon on the sacrifice and ritual lists. All the other known Voices have white icons.
 * There were ancient monks who could sing in two tones and therefore had the ability to host two Voices. However, the Voices were not responsible for Gregorian chants.