Quantum Suicide is one of the collectibles found in Alan Wake. It is an episode of the television series of Night Springs.
Story[]
On the Moorcock Institute, Doctor Barclay Colvin has called a press conference for a practical demonstration of the many-worlds interpretation. As he shows the reporters a loaded 9mm pistol, Colvin explains that he will use it for an experiment known as a "quantum suicide". The doctor places the gun on his head and pull the trigger without anything happening. Wanting to make clear that his gun is real, he shoots a nearby flowerpot, breaking it, and proceeds to explain that the gun cannot harm him as every time the gun is put on his temple, two realities are created: one where the gun did not fire and one where it did, with a special machine he created making sure that only the former happens, thus making Colvin immortal. One of the reporters, however, points out that that would mean that, on a parallel universe, Colvin has just killed himself, but the doctor disregards this as trivial. As the reporters begin to question his sanity, an indignant Colvin, attempting to prove them wrong, places the gun on his head again. While this is happening, the foot of another reporter gets caught in a power cord, unplugging the machine. Colvin, ignorant of this, pulls the trigger, shooting himself on the head and killing himself, as the reporters watch in horror.
Transcript[]
Night Springs Narrator: Science! It bestows immortality on those who advance it to elevate all of mankind. Newton! Einstein! Sagan! Princes among men! But the price for such a legacy is steep indeed... in Night Springs. Tonight’s Episode: "A Quantum Suicide".
[A group of reporters sits down in a classroom, with one of them accidentally putting his foot through a cable loop under his table as he sits down]
Night Springs Narrator: If our lives are already written, it would take a courageous man to change the script. Having called a press conference, Doctor Barclay Colvin is about to demonstrate that very courage.
Doctor Barclay Colvin: Ladies and gentlemen of the press, I'm Doctor Barclay Colvin, and I'm glad so many of you could join me here at the Moorcock Institute. Tonight, I'm going to give a practical demonstration of the many-worlds interpretation.
[camera shows Colvin's machine before the doctor pulls out a gun from his plinth]
Doctor Barclay Colvin: As you can see, this is a loaded 9mm pistol. It shall be part of a thought experiment - and now a real experiment! - known as a quantum suicide.
Reporter #2: Did he say suicide? Is that a real gun? He is kidding, right?
Doctor Barclay Colvin: Please, please! Stay calm. There is no risk. Observe what occurs when I place the weapon against my own forehead:
[Colvin pulls the trigger on his head but nothing happens]
Doctor Barclay Colvin: Now, you might think this round is merely a dud. Not so! Observe the flower pot:
[Colvin points the gun at a nearby flower pot and shoots, breaking the pot]
Doctor Barclay Colvin: And yet, I myself, cannot be harmed with this gun. With each pull of the trigger, two new realities branch off; one in which the weapon didn't fire, and one where it did. With my machine here, I have ensured that this reality is always the former. I have bestowed upon myself quantum immortality:
[The reporter moves his foot, still tangled on the wire, slightly]
Doctor Barclay Colvin: Under no circumstances can this gun kill me!
Reporter #2: So, wait, wait, wait - what you're saying is that every time you pull the trigger, in another reality, you... die?
Doctor Barclay Colvin: Yes, yes, of course. But that's completely trivial; there's an infinite number of things that could happen at any moment, and they always happen somewhere.
[The reporter's foot moves and pulls out a plug from the socket; Colvin's machine stops working]
Doctor Barclay Colvin: The point is, this one thing did not. Happen. Here.
Reporter #2: You're insane, Colvin!
Doctor Barclay Colvin: Insane? Insane?!
[The reporter grabs the plug]
Reporter #1: Hey, was this thing supposed to be plugged in? I stumbled on it!
Doctor Barclay Colvin: You fools! Gaze upon quantum immortality!
[As Colvin shoots himself, camera shows the reportes watching in horror before switching to Colvin's machine; the image fades away]
Night Springs Narrator: Poor, poor Doctor Colvin! Felled by his own hubris? Or the ignorance of the masses? Perhaps he should have left the crate unopened, the decaying atom unobserved! Curiosity often kills the cat... in Night Springs.
Location[]
The Television holding this episode can be found inside the small shed outside the third Biltmore logging camp.
Notes[]
- The Moorcock Institute was the name of a location cut from Alan Wake. Its name possibly stems from science fiction and fantasy writer Michael Moorcock. Additionally, Barclay Colvin's name may also come from two of Moorcock's pen names, Bill Barclay and James Colvin. The writer's surname was also used in another of Remedy Entertainment's video games Quantum Break for the Moorcock Hall at the Riverport University. Said video game also makes use of the concept of branching paths.
- The remaster version of this episode includes new shoots of Colvin's machine.