Subject Sigma

Lore & Background

Subject Sigma is a Big Daddy, a person fused with an armored diving suit. The story takes place in the underwater city of Rapture in 1968, eight years after the events of BioShock and concurrent with the events of BioShock 2's story mode, in the technological district of Minerva's Den. Sigma is guided by the voice of Charles Milton Porter as he approaches Minerva's Den, Rapture's central computer core. Porter wants to reach his supercomputer, the Thinker, to retrieve its blueprints so he can recreate it on the surface. Sigma is opposed by Porter's former colleague Reed Wahl, whom Porter warns has become insane from splicing and his obsession with the Thinker. As Sigma progresses, the environment becomes increasingly threatening due to the Thinker's sophisticated defense system and interference from Wahl and his forces. Sigma reaches the Thinker's core where he confronts and kills Wahl. Sampling Sigma's DNA to print out its schematics, the Thinker reveals Sigma's true identity as Porter, who was turned into a Big Daddy after being handed over to Rapture's authorities. Porter's "instructions" throughout the game actually came from the Thinker, imitating the voice of one of its creators. The final sequence of the game contains no combat; the player walks through Porter's living quarters, where he obsessed over digitally recreating his wife. Sigma and the scientist Brigid Tenenbaum return to the surface in a bathysphere; Tenenbaum is able to undo Sigma's programming and restore Porter's original human body. Porter visits his wife's grave and leaves a letter in which he apologizes for trying to bring her back using the Thinker, and says he has decided to let her go.

In Their Own Story

Subject Sigma is guided by the voice of Charles Milton Porter as he approaches Minerva's Den, Rapture's central computer core. Porter wants to reach his supercomputer, the Thinker, to retrieve its blueprints so he can recreate it on the surface. Sigma is opposed by Porter's former colleague Reed Wahl, whom Porter warns has become insane from splicing and his obsession with the Thinker. After becoming disillusioned with his role in World War II and the loss of his wife Pearl in The Blitz, Porter traveled to Rapture to pursue his dreams of creating artificial intelligence. While initially working together, Porter and Wahl each wanted to use the Thinker for their own ends. Porter attempted to recreate Pearl by emulating her personality with the Thinker, while Wahl believed he could program the computer to predict the future. Wahl betrayed Porter to Rapture's secret police to keep the Thinker for himself. Minerva's Den has been cut off from the rest of Rapture, and its scientists, who have taken to splicing, attack Sigma. As Sigma progresses, the environment becomes increasingly threatening due to the Thinker's sophisticated defense system and interference from Wahl and his forces. Sigma reaches the Thinker's core where he confronts and kills Wahl. Sampling Sigma's DNA to print out its schematics, the Thinker reveals Sigma's true identity as Porter, who was turned into a Big Daddy after being handed over to Rapture's authorities. Porter's "instructions" throughout the game actually came from the Thinker, imitating the voice of one of its creators. The final sequence of the game contains no combat; the player walks through Porter's living quarters, where he obsessed over digitally recreating his wife. Sigma and the scientist Brigid Tenenbaum return to the surface in a bathysphere; Tenenbaum is able to undo Sigma's programming and restore Porter's original human body. Porter visits his wife's grave and leaves a letter in which he apologizes for trying to bring her back using the Thinker, and says he has decided to let her go.

Reader's Guide

Subject Sigma is the player character in Minerva's Den, a downloadable content campaign for BioShock 2. The gameplay of Minerva's Den is similar to that of BioShock 2. The player uses similar weapons and plasmids (genetic modifications that grant superpowers) but obtains them in a different order, with an increased emphasis on hacking security. The expansion adds new items, including the Ion Lance, a laser weapon wielded by Minerva's Den's Lancer Big Daddies, and the Gravity Well plasmid, which stuns and pulls enemies towards a vortex. New enemies include security robots armed with rockets or laser weapons, flame-wielding Brute Splicers, and ice-throwing Houdini Splicers. The game can be completed in between three and five hours. Opposing the player are enemies known as splicers—Rapture's residents who overused genetic modifications—along with other Big Daddies and automated security. The final sequence of the game contains no combat; the player walks through Porter's living quarters, where he obsessed over digitally recreating his wife.

Did You Know?

• Subject Sigma's true identity is Charles Milton Porter, who was turned into a Big Daddy after being handed over to Rapture's authorities.
• The 'instructions' Sigma receives throughout the game actually come from the Thinker, imitating the voice of one of its creators.
• Sigma and Brigid Tenenbaum return to the surface in a bathysphere, where Tenenbaum undoes Sigma's programming and restores Porter's original human body.
• The final sequence of Minerva's Den contains no combat; the player walks through Porter's living quarters, where he obsessed over digitally recreating his wife.
• Minerva's Den was created by a small team within 2K Marin led by Steve Gaynor, who partly based the setting on ideas he discussed in his hiring interview.