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| “ | It's loss that brought me to Rapture. The loss of my wife, Pearl... The Thinker is all I've got, now... | „ |
| ~ Charles Milton Porter. |
| “ | I lived through the Blitz, Pearl - and the fall of Rapture. They took my memory, my voice - everything that made me a man. But nothing ever scared me so much as saying goodbye. I wanted to save you. I couldn't resist to bring you back, the only way I knew how. But you didn't want that - I know it now. And I think I'm finally ready... to let you go your way. I stand here, with the sun on my face… and it's almost like I can feel you smiling.
Goodbye, Pearl. I love you more than I've got words for. |
„ |
| ~ Porter's letter to Pearl after returning to the surface. |
Charles Milton Porter, also known as Subject Sigma (Symbol: Σ), is the main protagonist and playable character of Minerva's Den, the story expansion of the 2010 video game BioShock 2.
He is the creator of The Thinker, Rapture Central Computing Mainframe's Artificial Intelligence residing in Minerva's Den. Porter used the machine to re-create the voice of his late wife Pearl, but was dismayed upon doing so. Betrayed by his colleague Reed Wahl, Charles was imprisoned in Persephone where he was turned into a Alpha Series big daddy prototype named "Subject Sigma". In 1968, he was assisted by Brigid Tenenbaum and the Thinker to stop Wahl before returning to the surface.
He was voiced by Carl Lumbly, who also voiced Martian Manhunter in the DC Animated Universe and Anansi in Static Shock.
History[]
Background[]
Charles Milton Porter was born in Chicago, Illinois to unnamed parents, and was a gifted mathematician. When he was young, he moved to Pennsylvania to attend Lincoln University, where he earned a degree in mathematics. While at the university, Porter met Pearl Phillips at her family's diner, and the two fell in love and married a year later. During the Second World War, he met Alan Turing, who asked for his assistance in breaking codes due to his genius intellect. In London, Charles joined the codebreaking team, but Pearl would be killed during the London bombings.
While grieving over the death of his wife, he presumably continued working with the codebreaking team until the war ended. He soon encountered the industrialist Andrew Ryan, who recruited him to come to Rapture to expand his mathematical genius.
Rapture[]
Agreeing to Ryan's terms, Porter left the surface to the underwater city, where he remained determined to succeed by his accomplishments. While there, he felt the pressure of Rapture's social climate, as a "business type" suggested that he should splice himself white to "get ahead", and he rejected the idea. He also encountered Sofia Lamb, whom invited him to her Rapture Family, but he refused, calling it "half-baked metaphysical mumbo-jumbo". Working with Reed Wahl, the two created the Rapture Central Computing which hosted the Rapture Operational Data Interpreter Network, which became better known as "The Thinker". Porter also have the computer be advanced to the point that it could control the city's automated security systems and the city's functioning infrastructure.
Wanting to humanize the Thinker, Porter and Wahl intended to have the computer replicate Turing, but Charles realized that he was thinking of replicating Pearl. Due to the Thinker's ability to replicate a person's voice, Charles started to feed the computer his late wife's voice. Once the machine was able to fully speak in her voice, Porter tested it out, but he was quickly put off from the conversation and ended it. During this time, Porter and Wahl came into conflict over the Thinker, which resulted in Reed betraying his colleague. Using the Thinker to replicate Porter's voice, he had it the computer use Charles' voice to pledge his affiliation to Frank Fontaine and gave it to Ryan. Seeing it as treason, the industrialist had Porter imprisoned in Persephone, as Wahl was given control over the Thinker.
In Persephone, Porter was taken to Fontaine Futuristics where he was turned into an Alpha Series prototype, becoming known as "Subject Sigma". Unlike the other series, Porter never went through the bonding process to connect with Little Sisters, but the reason is currently unknown. He was later placed in storage as the Big Daddies replaced the Alpha Series in patrolling the underwater city, and Wahl became obsessed with using the Thinker to predict the future.
Minerva's Den[]
In 1968, Subject Sigma was revived by Brigid Tenenbaum, who was assisted by the Thinker as the advanced computer used Porter's voice to help them stop Wahl. After nearly being killed by Wahl's explosives outside the den, Sigma was awakened by Porter's voice, guiding him to enter the den. Upon restoring the power, Porter guides Sigma to enter his office, which is not covered in splicers due to his security system. Getting the punch card, Sigma is tasked with retrieving the gravity well plasmid to remove magnetic lock to enter the operations access.
In the operations, Porter tasks Subject Sigma with finding a signal beacon from a broken bathysphere to reprogram Charles' own bathysphere to escape. Once reaching the Thinker, Sigma is finds an audio diary that reveals that Ryan arrested Porter for committing treason. Porter tasks Sigma with using the code printer to confirm his identity, but Wahl shuts down the machine, which can cause the destruction of the den. Sigma then battles and kills Wahl in combat before returning to the machine, where he learns that he is in fact Porter himself. Tenenbaum then explains that she allowed the Thinker to help him since it could use his own voice to comfort him, as the machine acted on his own following the departure protocol.
Upon the revelation, Sigma goes through his office where can find his final audio diary of his conversation with the Thinker replicating Pearl's voice. He then enters the bathysphere with Tenenbaum, and the two return to the surface. On land, she is able to restore Charles from his state, and the two work together. Afterward, Charles returns to his wife's grave, leaving a letter where he explains that he is ready to let her go.
Gone Home[]
As revealed in Gone Home, Porter became the founder of CMP Interactive, and developed the game Spitfire.
Quotes[]
| “ | I dreamed a computer that could think for itself. And using Rapture's technology, I made that dream reality, a machine that could actually think, reason for itself. | „ |
| ~ Charles Porter. |
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- He and Pearl got married in the Christ Lutheran Church in Oxford, Pennsylvania. It was on Saturday 17th June, 1939, at 14:00.
- Although Jack and Subject Delta start off with finding Electro Bolt as their first Plasmid, Subject Sigma's first Plasmid is Telekinesis, which is already equipped from the start of the game.
- Subject Sigma is the only known Big Daddy in the series to be reverted to a normal human.
- The vocalizations from Sigma sound far more human than any other type of protector in the game, only to be rivaled by the vocal sounds from the Big Sisters. Even other Alpha Series do not sound as human as Sigma. This trait is shared by the unnamed Alpha Series in the Protector Trials DLC and Subject Delta.
- Despite not going through the bonding process, he is still able to adopt Little Sisters and have them collect ADAM.
Licensing[]
This article contains content derived from the "Charles Milton Porter" and "Subject Sigma" articles on the BioShock Wiki, licensed under CC-BY-SA.