Fractale – 3

Are doppels just data or are they something more?

In the third episode of Fractale, we were introduced to the Lost Millennium, the organization who have rejected the Fractale system and choose to live their lives without it.  They do everyone from growing food to teaching their own children by themselves without the help of those devilish doppels.  They also no longer need to sync their own Fractale terminals with the system but, as a result, no longer receive income, obtain quality medical services, or, to my understanding, sense doppels at all.  Without the terminal system, they’re still able to earn a living and treat minor medical emergencies, so that’s no big deal.  In a sense, you could say they’re the same as everyone else except they live in a world without doppels.

Further on in the episode, Sunda, the acting leader of Lost Millennium in the Granitz village, summarized Nessa, our darling doppel, as being ‘just data’.  That means all the doppels we’ve seen to date, the ones that representing Clain’s parents and populating the nearby village, are just data of the humans behind them.  Without the Fractale terminal embedded within the body, one can longer see, hear, or touch the doppels, almost as if they’re ghastly spirits who wander the planet.  Special visors do allow those without the system to see and hear them and in the case of the child at the beginning, even touch them.  Sunda, however, is unable to touch Nessa.  The doppel explained the reason behind this phenomenon is that if you hate Nessa, then you aren’t able to touch her.

Doppels, at least right now, are the most interesting aspect of the world of Fractale.  Once we begin to explore the vast expanse ahead, I’ll return to obsessing over the geography, the population, and the society, but for now, the technology of doppels seems the most fascinating.  Just what are they exactly?

Are doppels only just data that can be sensed by those who have an active Fractale terminal or special visors?  It can’t be that.  There needs to be more!  What’s the point of having it only be limited to that chosen population?  Why is it that if you hate a doppel, you can’t touch them but can still see and hear them?  If you have the system inside of you but still hate a doppel, will you no longer touch them?  How was Clain able to turn off his parent’s doppels or the policemen able to do so at the junk market, meaning eliminating them from eyes, ears, and touch?  I could literally type out question after question but there’s no point if I don’t begin providing some of my own answers.

Doppels may indeed be data but they also physically exist and interact with the stimuli of the surrounding environment… just only sometimes.  Nessa was captured and held in by a net and was able to shake hands with a child.  She is able to exert a force on objects around her and they on her.  However, when someone who doesn’t like her tries to touch her, they just go right on through her like she never existed.  Same thing happened with the laser fired at her.  So not everything is able to touch her and Nessa’s explanation doesn’t provide us with a solid answer as to why.  But to be honest, I can’t suggest any good answers to these issues.  I can’t answer why those with the Fractale terminals in their bodies can interact with them so and shut them off.  Perhaps we’ll learn more about these mysterious beings and the true purpose to why they exist to those reliant on the Fractale system and invisible to those who don’t.

On a new subject, my enjoyment of Clain increases with each passing episode.  Clain’s interest in antique technology is one of his charms, seeing him fall in love with every new retro object.  The fact that these relics excite him more than any other person or doppel is rather amusing and very reflective on the personality of people living in this era.  Clain’s commentary on the Lost Millennium shows his cynical side which is one of his strengths, being able to identify the silliness in these people’s actions in a humorous manner.  Additionally, Clain’s reaction to the slaughter at the Star Festival showed a bit of his humanity, being confused and frightened in that firefight, the first time we’ve seen such emotions.  Overall, I’m really enjoying him as a character, especially the lead character.  He seems like the straight-man in a comedy sketch, but he has some flaws himself which I always like in a character.