The Science Behind Control: Multiverse Chaos

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The Control we will look at is the 2019 science-fiction video game by Remedy. This visually striking game has won several awards since release. It is also the game with the best art direction for us at FictionTalk. Control is just as weird as Alan Wake and Quantum Break and features some out-of-the-world concepts and ideas, literally. One of them being a different universe converging with ours.

So, let’s try and compare the science in Control with what we have in reality, even though much of it is in theory, for now at least.

The Premise of Control

We play as Jesse Faden, who enters a government agency called the Federal Bureau of Control (FBC) in search of her brother. This agency is in a building called The Oldest House. Once she reaches the Director’s office, all manner of bizarre events start taking place.

We find the Director to have committed suicide and take his gun called the Service Weapon. This gun can shapeshift, that is, it can become a pistol, shotgun, sniper, etc. We also find that the Oldest House can shapeshift too and it has been invaded by an alien zombie-like race, which we name, The Hiss. Now, how did they even get here?

In the world of Control, normal items such as our gun, papers, electronics, rocks, or even slide projectors are capable of surreal functions. The slide projector, for instance, can open slides that act as portals to different dimensions. That’s how the Hiss entered into the Oldest House. Now, the important distinction here is, the game says ‘different dimensions’ but it is different universe/s.

When we say dimensions, we mean the 3 spatial dimensions of length, width, and height. The fourth dimension being time. So, dimensions aren’t exactly places to be in. Control has The Hiss coming in from their universe or reality. Consider the Upside-Down from Stranger Things.

Multiverse Theory

Many scientists believe in the theory that parallel/multiple universes exist alongside our own. This is called the Multiverse theory. This theory has various interpretations, you could say. The main theory (Multiverse) states that there are multiple universes and each universe contains everything in existence, from energy to information. It was thought of since the times of ancient Greece as Atomism, a branch of philosophy. It was later expanded by prominent physicists and so far we have 9 types of Multiverses theorized.

Another theory, the many-worlds interpretation, says that nearly infinite universes exist living out every possible outcome like superposition.

Then we have String Theory, a theory that uses concepts of particle physics, quantum mechanics, gravity etc to build its framework. In String Theory, zero-dimensional particles (no space occupied) are replaced by one-dimensional particles named strings. Also, String Theory assumes that there are 11 dimensions instead of 4.

Comparison

In Control, the Astral Plane is similar to the Multiverse. A realm outside ours but connected regardless. These areas are accessed through portals, one such as that of the slide projector. If there’s a high concentration of energy into a small space, it can create portals. The slide projector from the game is also an object of immense power. Also, the slide projector in the game only has one remaining slide due to other slides being destroyed. It is plausible that the other slides could have opened portals to different universes.

The many-worlds interpretation is similar to the time loop that we get stuck into towards to end of the game. Near infinite possibilities played over again and again.

Jesse, the more she interacts with these otherworldly objects, gains more “supernatural” powers. The ability to throw objects with her mind, float in the air, dash, etc. This is where dimensions may play a part. It is believed that there may truly be more dimensions, it’s just that our brain can’t perceive them. In the game, it could be that Jesse gains powers through these objects’ ability to render her perceptions. The Hiss can do it too.

Perhaps it could be the Resonance called Polaris. The Polaris is an entity that helps Jesse in the game and it resides in her mind. The duo of Jesse and Polaris is similar to that of the Phoenix Force and Jean Grey from X-Men. Polaris can manipulate objects to the atomic, wavelength, vibration, frequency levels. In real life, the largest machine of this world, The Large Hadron Collider can accelerate protons at such speeds that it can study matter at its tiniest. Of course, converting the power of the world’s largest machine to a mind is pure science-fiction.

One More Thing

We can also fast travel in Control via teleportation. As of now, we also have various types of teleportation. One of which is transferring information from one place to another. By using the principles of quantum entanglement, this info based teleportation has already been achieved albeit on a very minor scale. Human teleportation is not possible but information can be a start.

We are making bits of progress towards The Theory of Everything.

For more Science Behind articles:

Ammar Kachwala

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