The Helios Organization
The story begins in the year 2231, on the planet of WSP-1. Earth has run almost completely out of fresh water, primarily thanks to the global warming of the Earth, resulting in the melting of the ice caps, the huge surplus of salt water, and the destruction of most of the top cities in the world. Unable to convert enough salt water into fresh water, the world formed the Helios Organization, tasked with the ultimate goal to find planets with fresh water and send water back to Earth to supply the population. One of these planets is WSP-1, a massive ice-covered planet twice the size of Earth with an ocean hidden underneath it. This was one of the best sources of fresh water found so far, so the company tasked the workers who had found it to establish a permanent settlement. In order to extract the water, the settlement would have to drill down beneath the icy surface and pump the water back up. This process, however, would eventually lead to the demise of the group.
The Infection
In order to ensure the water was safe to drink, the settlement decided to stream the planet’s water and the water provided from Earth separately, just in case the planet’s was unsafe to drink, and installed gateways in between the water in the event that it was declared safe to drink. The settlement assigned two scientists, by the names of Daniel Mineza (The player) and Trevor Nicholas to study the water for any viruses. While the tests were being performed, a blizzard began to occur on the planet. The snow blew out the main generators of the building temporarily, resulting in the planet’s water being mixed in with the Earth water. Once the power came back on, Daniel and Trevor came to the realization that the water contained a virus within it. Daniel quickly ran to the head of the settlement, Benjamin Ham, and informed him on the virus. However, Ben, who was already infected by the virus, told Daniel that the idea was impossible, and had declared Daniel was attempting to sabotage the mission, ordering him to be locked away until they could build some sense into them. Trevor, meanwhile, quickly comes to the realization that the drinking water was contaminated. Both scientists come to the conclusion that everyone on board the station is infected except for them.
Abandon Ship
Several days go by before Daniel or Trevor are able to stop the mission from ongoing. Knowing the station is infected, the two end up forming a plan on how to prevent the rocket leaving the planet from escaping with the water to Earth and infecting everyone on it. On the day of the launch, Trevor manages to shut down the power for the building containing Daniel. This allows Daniel to escape from imprisonment. Trevor, meanwhile, heads to the main rocket and deploys explosives inside of it. However, as he is leaving the ship, security personnel find and capture Trevor. Upon learning that Daniel escaped containment, Trevor is brought to Ben. Ben gives the command to all of the personnel to track down Daniel and kill him. In response, Daniel goes on a literal murder spree, killing everyone in the station before he is killed first. This leads Daniel to the main control station of the rocket, where he finds Ben as he is interrogating Trevor. Daniel attempts to shoot and kill Ben, but Ben shoots Daniel in the knee right before he kills Trevor. Afterwards, Ben activates the controls in order to launch the rocket. Right after he does this, Daniel stabs Trevor from behind, grabs the controller from Trevor’s dead body, and blows up the rocket. This stops the water from escaping WSP-1, but all the debris heads straight back down to Earth, destroying the facility. One of these pieces of debris pierces Trevor’s skull, damaging his brain’s hippocampus.
The Search Begins
The game begins with Daniel waking up on the bottom levels of the facility, which have been flooded with water partially. Daniel has completely forgotten who he was, where he is, and why he is there. In search of answers, Daniel scavenges his way throughout the facility. As he makes his way through, he finds one of the workers of the facility. After asking for help, Daniel is attacked by the worker, but Daniel manages to kill the worker. Daniel is forced to roam through the facility, killing anyone he sees, solving any electronic failures he encounters, and discover who he truly is. As he goes through the game, Daniel learns of his past on Earth and why he came to the facility. Upon entering his lab, Daniel learns of the studies he did on the virus, and realizes how it slowly takes control of its host and kills them. It is not until he reaches the main control center that he discovers that he is the one who destroyed the facility. After reviewing the footage, Daniel begins to hear whispers in his head. At first, Daniel believes he is going insane from his loss of memory. He also realizes that to save the planet, the base has to be destroyed. So, the player goes throughout the base and deploys explosives in order to blow up the base upon leaving. Then, the player heads to the escape pod once and for all.
A Difficult Choice
As he walks to the escape, the whispers get louder and more demanding, and eventually Daniel begins to talk back as if the virus is another person. Eventually, Daniel will arrive at the escape pod center and call down an escape pod. However, the player will also realize a piece of debris is in the back of their head. After pulling it out, Daniel will regain all of the memories he had prior to that moment. After hearing the voices again, Daniel realizes that he too is infected with the virus (he became infected when he was in the beginning of the game, when the infected water came into contact with the blood and shrapnel lodged into his brain, allowing it to seep into his bloodstream). At this point, the shuttle appears, allowing the player to escape. However, it is at this point that Daniel and the player have to make a dramatic choice: leave the base or stay on it. If the player leaves the base, they will escape via the pod right as Daniel explodes the facility, leaving the player as the only survivor. However, the game will then skip a few years at a time, showing Daniel arriving upon Earth, then the virus becoming exposed to Earth’s population, and slowly but surely, Daniel and the rest of the humans living out their last moments on Earth in crisis as everyone begins to die from the virus. If, however, the player chooses to stay, they will launch the shuttle from the outside without Daniel. Daniel will then deploy the last explosive on the floor of the shuttle room. Saying his last words, Daniel will then explode the facility, killing him and everyone else within it while also preventing anyone from ever leaving and the infection from spreading to the Earth, saving billions of lives in hopes that they will find a way to save the human population from death by mass dehydration.