Page - 186 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 03/01

186 | Frank G. Bosman www.jrfm.eu 2017, 3/1, 185–190 the ground crew appears to have rearranged the layout of the base in order to create a massive turing test, supposedly to keep tom from re-establishing com- munication with the ground base and its crew. tom mentions that the test was the reason that he took Ava with him to europa: she is able to solve the puzzles that tom cannot solve. the turing test plays an important role in the narrative of this game, which is also named after it, but I will come to its significance later. For the moment, it suffices to say that computer intelligence is typically unable to pass this test. As Ava slowly works her way through the turing-test maze, which the ground team has set up for her and tom, she gradually discovers the horrible tragedy that has taken place both on the fortune and on europa. the crew found an exo-organism called ‘organism 119’ in the icy rocks of the moon europa. this organism’s astonishing qualities include virus-like behavior which triggers the DNA of its host to replicate itself very quickly and without the gradual degen- eration associated with becoming older. Organism 119 essentially makes its host immortal. Unfortunately for the crew, they experimented with the organism on themselves, making themselves relatively immortal. the international space Agency decides that the crew will never be allowed to return to earth because of the risks that bringing an exo-organism to earth entails, especially an exo- organism with such unprecedented capabilities. eventually the crew rebelled against tom, who is the enforcer of this involun- tary quarantine. the ship’s A.i. guarantees the continuation of the life-support systems (air, water and food), but makes it impossible for the crew to return to earth. After a certain period of time, as Ava learns during the game through audio and video samples, emails and log books, the crew rebelled against tom’s omnipresence and absolute control by removing a brain-controlling chip from their arms. the situation has come to a standstill: tom controls the space sta- tion and the life support for europa, and the crew on europa is trying to keep the A.i. out of their lives. hUMAN trAGeDy The Turing Test touches upon various philosophical and existential topics, the first of which is human tragedy. The crew is stranded on the moon Europa and the space station without any hope of ever returning home. Photographs and other private objects found in the living quarters of the space station are silent witnesses to the members’ lost lives back home. One of the female crew mem- bers, sarah, got pregnant and had a son, Minos. Unfortunately, the physical conditions far away from earth prevented the embryo from developing prop- erly, and Minos died shortly after birth. the captain of the crew, Daniel, commit- ted suicide after giving tom permission to use lethal force to prevent the crew