Zero Context

Episode 25: Complex Motives

Content warning: this episode briefly discusses gun violence, blood, on-screen suicide, the death of a dog, and attempted sexual assault. It’s over. After being incinerated, dismembered, and blown up too many times to count, Axe and Nathalie have arrived at the end of Zero Time Dilemma, the end of Zero Escape, and the end of this podcast. As the sun sets on the Nevada desert, Delta informs our hosts that every terrible decision was necessary to bring them to this very moment transmitting live to you, dear listener. That through their suffering, the world may be saved. With the final decision staring our duo in the face, we leave it up to you to decide the fate of humanity… This episode covers the fragments - [C/Q/D-Team] -> Force Quit Boxes - The Final Decision - Payoff - Epilogues Things Discussed - Nathalie's fan cast - Carlos the sis-con, gay-coded, best friend firefighter who will never fuck - Clipping through your daughter - Putting a dollar in the swear jar for mentioning Her Story - MIND HACKING - The Zero Time Dilemma - Blaming Telltale's The Walking Dead - “Half to Whole [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CO4cVly5HgY]” by Kizuna Chieda from Ai: The Somnium Files - nirvanA Initiative - Carlos giving a thumbs up - Delta is baby - The importance of the traditional family unit - Streetpassing Delta - “It's me, I'm Junpei!” - Oneshot (Future Cat, 2014) - Danger and epiphany at Spike Chunsoft - Delta crying in the garden of Gethsemane - Mira goes to jail - End of the show sentimentality - Nathalie's very good correct predictions Intro: “Ustulate Pathos [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0750KVjFuM]” by Shinji Hosoe Outro: “Morphogenetic Sorrow -Piano- [https://downloads.khinsider.com/game-soundtracks/album/zero-escape-zero-time-dilemma-original-soundtrack-2022/1-18.%2520Morphogenetic%2520Sorrow%2520-Piano-.mp3]” by Shinji Hosoe Subscribe on Pocket Casts [https://pca.st/s6lbsym8], Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/zero-context/id1639410711], or wherever you get podcasts. You can support Axe [https://ko-fi.com/winggamer] and Nathalie [https://ko-fi.com/kritiqal] on their respective Ko-Fi pages, keep up with them on Cohost @wingblade [https://cohost.org/wingblade] and @BOOitsnathalie [https://cohost.org/BOOitsnathalie], and follow the show page [https://cohost.org/ZeroContext/] for exclusive memes and research notes. Send your questions/comments/complaints to questions@kritiqal.com [questions@kritiqal.com], and tell your mom about us.

Episode 24: Mama's Boy

Content warning: this episode briefly discusses gun violence, blood, on-screen suicide, and the death of a child. It’s the penultimate episode of Zero Context, which means Axe and Nathalie get to finally meet Zero in the flesh. With bloodshot eyes and cane in hand, he clues them in on the tragic truth of our favorite ball-headed boy, Mira’s bloody fate, and how he’s somehow been there the whole time just out of frame. Before our duo can process these revelations, Zero unveils new telekinetic powers and blows everyone away so he can spend a quite evening with his mom. This episode covers the fragments - [Q Team] -> Reality - [Q Team] -> Q Next time on Zero Context - Play all the [Escape Box] fragments in the following order -> C-Team -> Q-Team -> D-Team - Play the unlocked fragment - Return to the start of the game Things Discussed - Gab's lounge for Gab - Delta Ikari, the saddest boy - “Choosing” to put yourself in the Matrix at gunpoint - The Great American Dinner - The Uchikoshi amnesia character triple twist - Laughing and having a great time with Zero, just out of frame - Professor Sean Layton, Boy Detective - Answering questions I'm sorry to have asked - Zero's creepy uncle fit - President Delta - Radical-6 Day Reunion - PSA for all ice-cream men in Nebraska - A text prompt to your brain - Leftist Reading [https://www.abnormalmapping.com/leftist-reading-rss] on the Abnormal Mapping network - 999 Season 1 DLC - Official alternate universes (but not in a metaverse way) Intro: “Ustulate Pathos -Record- [https://downloads.khinsider.com/game-soundtracks/album/zero-escape-zero-time-dilemma-original-soundtrack-2022/3-08.%2520Ustulate%2520Pathos%2520-Record-.mp3]” by Shinji Hosoe Outro: “Morphogenetic Sorrow [https://downloads.khinsider.com/game-soundtracks/album/zero-escape-zero-time-dilemma-original-soundtrack-2022/3-19.%2520Morphogenetic%2520Sorrow.mp3]” by Shinji Hosoe Subscribe on Pocket Casts [https://pca.st/s6lbsym8], Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/zero-context/id1639410711], or wherever you get podcasts. You can support Axe [https://ko-fi.com/winggamer] and Nathalie [https://ko-fi.com/kritiqal] on their respective Ko-Fi pages, keep up with them on Cohost @wingblade [https://cohost.org/wingblade] and @BOOitsnathalie [https://cohost.org/BOOitsnathalie], and follow the show page [https://cohost.org/ZeroContext/] for exclusive memes and research notes. Send your questions/comments/complaints to questions@kritiqal.com [questions@kritiqal.com], and tell your mom about us.

Episode 23: Not Living in a Society

Content warning: this episode briefly discusses starvation, sexual assault, domestic abuse, suicide and suicidal ideation, dismemberment, the death of infants, and gun violence. Through a chaotic sequence of various form of time travel, Axe and Nathalie have finally ended up at Zero Time Dilemma’s apex. They bare witness to a cabin fever love story, learn about transporter cooldown timers, and send clones of doomed babies back to the turn of the 20th century. Shifting to another timeline, they discover the facility is not what it seems, get another round of snail story facts, and finally glance at that bloody anagram before our favorite boy Carlos blows the door off its hinges… This episode covers the fragments- [Q Team] -> Pop-Off (new ending)- [D Team] -> Transport- [D Team] -> Door of Truth- [C Team] -> Get Back- [C Team] -> Anthropic Principle (new ending) Next time on Zero Context- Choose [Q Team] -> Play the [ball boy in the matrix with Zero] fragment -> Play all outcomes- Choose [Q Team] -> Play the [ball boy in the transporter room] fragment -> Play all outcomes Things Discussed- Why Obama sold Zero an alien transporter- The Swapper (Facepalm Games, 2013) and clone ethics- A game about dads- Getting played out during your love confession- Post coital, fully clothed pillow talk- Licking booze off the ground- Human Baby + Gab = Zero- Getting softlocked by birthdays- Zero's podcast- Turning on Joker mode- Uchikoshi decorating the fake lounge just for us- Post credits dance sequence- Writing budget constraints into the story- Ordinary everyman Carlos- Solving the trolley problem with clairvoyance- Zero, savior of humanity- Asking what YOU are doing about radical-6???- Carlos the taxi-driver- A thousand unfortunate accidents- Everyone and no one is guilty- Final Fantasy XIII-2 (Square Enix, 2011, and ⁠Abnormal Mapping’s Fabula Nova Crystallis episode⁠ [https://www.abnormalmapping.com/the-abnormal-mapping-podcast/2024/2/14/abnormal-mapping-156-fabula-nova-crystallis-final-fantasy-xiii]- ⁠Novel Not New⁠ [https://www.abnormalmapping.com/novel-not-new/2022/7/21/novel-not-new-41-ai-the-somnium-files-nirvana-initiative] and ⁠Say It In Red⁠ [https://sayitinred.buzzsprout.com/1470223/10479503-say-it-in-red-episode-26-ai-the-somnium-files-part-1]'s episodes on AI: The Somnium Files Intro: “⁠Ustulate Pathos -Record-⁠ [https://downloads.khinsider.com/game-soundtracks/album/zero-escape-zero-time-dilemma-original-soundtrack-2022/3-08.%2520Ustulate%2520Pathos%2520-Record-.mp3]” by Shinji HosoeOutro: “⁠Morphogenetic Sorrow⁠ [https://downloads.khinsider.com/game-soundtracks/album/zero-escape-zero-time-dilemma-original-soundtrack-2022/3-19.%2520Morphogenetic%2520Sorrow.mp3]” by Shinji Hosoe Subscribe on ⁠Pocket Casts⁠ [https://pca.st/s6lbsym8], ⁠Apple Podcasts⁠ [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/zero-context/id1639410711], or wherever you get podcasts. You can support ⁠Axe⁠ [https://ko-fi.com/winggamer] and ⁠Nathalie⁠ [https://ko-fi.com/kritiqal] on their respective Ko-Fi pages, keep up with them on Cohost ⁠@wingblade⁠ [https://cohost.org/wingblade] and ⁠@BOOitsnathalie⁠ [https://cohost.org/BOOitsnathalie], and follow ⁠the show page⁠ [https://cohost.org/ZeroContext/] for exclusive memes and research notes. Send your questions/comments/complaints to ⁠questions@kritiqal.com⁠ [questions@kritiqal.com], and tell your mom about us.

Episode 22: I Drink Your Milkshake

Content warning: this episode briefly discusses suicidal ideation, dismemberment, blood, and gore After last week’s malaise, Axe and Nathalie have been orb launched into two bewilderingly dense fragments. Zero Time Dilemma begins to reveal its secrets, as first our hosts close the loop on the radical-6 outbreak, finding a far more familiar culprit than expected. Then, Akane’s murderous soul returns to her body and they bear witness to the worst time travel escape plan of all time. Just as the way out is at hand, the lights are cut and a boy without a name comes to end the episode for us… This episode covers the fragments - [D Team] -> Outbreak - [C Team] -> Ambidex Next time on Zero Context - Choose [D Team] -> Play the [Diana and Sigma looking at a TV] fragment -> Play all outcomes - Choose [Q Team] -> Play the new node under the [Pop Off] fragment -> Play to a natural conclusion Things Discussed - Voice actor corner: Sigma (JP: Daisuke Ono [https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/Daisuke-Ono/]; EN: Matthew Mercer [https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/Matthew-Mercer/]) - Listening to podcasts on the Apple Vision Pro - Securing your nuclear reactor with Chu Chu Rocket - When your bones don’t have enough gravity - Modern game UI as a woman - Narrative stakes for branching narratives (or the lack thereof) - Saw traps as personality quizzes - Blackjack, Columbo, and The X-Files - Invoking Jack Final Fantasy [https://youtu.be/N0WvpMw0Sko?si=AlyUVohbSYFVB58-&t=166] - Time traveling murderer Akane - Teaching people about the morphogenetic field IRL - Posting on Gamefaqs about wood physics - One punch ball ball - ORB - Legally distinct Back to the Future - Everyone is Zero Intro: “Ustulate Pathos -Record- [https://downloads.khinsider.com/game-soundtracks/album/zero-escape-zero-time-dilemma-original-soundtrack-2022/3-08.%2520Ustulate%2520Pathos%2520-Record-.mp3]” by Shinji Hosoe Outro: “Morphogenetic Sorrow [https://downloads.khinsider.com/game-soundtracks/album/zero-escape-zero-time-dilemma-original-soundtrack-2022/3-19.%2520Morphogenetic%2520Sorrow.mp3]” by Shinji Hosoe Subscribe on Pocket Casts [https://pca.st/s6lbsym8], Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/zero-context/id1639410711], or wherever you get podcasts. You can support Axe [https://ko-fi.com/winggamer] and Nathalie [https://ko-fi.com/kritiqal] on their respective Ko-Fi pages, keep up with them on Cohost @wingblade [https://cohost.org/wingblade] and @BOOitsnathalie [https://cohost.org/BOOitsnathalie], and follow the show page [https://cohost.org/ZeroContext/] for exclusive memes and research notes. Send your questions/comments/complaints to questions@kritiqal.com [questions@kritiqal.com], and tell your mom about us.

Episode 21: Gab is Zero

Content warning: this episode briefly discusses child abuse and death by suffocation Happy New Year! Returning from an arguably better videogame, Axe and Nathalie are back in the Zero Time Dilemma bomb shelter with our favorite cast of disorganized sickos. They learn about game show probability puzzles, crunch the numbers on sci-fi virus mortality rates (they’re bad), and play an actual escape room game. In another timeline, Nathalie proposes that a dog could be behind the whole thing, Axe pleads for more mid-puzzle cutscene, and the duo collectively sigh at how still nothing is happening before being put out of their misery by a mysterious assassin. This episode covers the fragments - [C Team] -> Monty Hall - [Q Team] -> Radical-6 - [D Team] -> Suppression Next time on Zero Context - Choose [C Team] -> Play the [Carlos and Junpei looking at monitors] fragment -> Play all outcomes - Choose [D Team] -> Play the [Phi standing in front of a wall with Sigma and Diana out of frame behind her] fragment -> Play all outcomes - Choose [D Team] -> Play the [Diana and Sigma looking at a TV] fragment -> Play all outcomes Things Discussed - Voice actor corner: Mira (JP: Maaya Sakamoto [https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/Maaya-Sakamoto/]; EN: Rachel Kimsey [https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/Rachel-Kimsey/] ) - The Spike Chunsoft Gamer Survey [https://www.spike-chunsoft.com/news/join-the-first-ever-spike-chunsoft-inc-annual-survey/] - Virtue’s Last Reward: Game Show Edition - What if: a visual novel - Horny for firefighters - The Monty Hall problem [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monty_Hall_problem], which you can read about for yourself at home - A baffling lab puzzle - Q Team best team? - The Horizontal Tango - A weird old guy - Playing flash games in the Villanova University CAVE [https://www1.villanova.edu/university/liberal-arts-sciences/scholarship/centers/ceet/research-scholarship/cave.html] - Getting the COVID vaccine in a “spa” - Commissioning an oedipal reading of Sigma - Top 10 things 20-somethings do Intro: “Ustulate Pathos -Record- [https://downloads.khinsider.com/game-soundtracks/album/zero-escape-zero-time-dilemma-original-soundtrack-2022/3-08.%2520Ustulate%2520Pathos%2520-Record-.mp3]” by Shinji Hosoe Outro: “Morphogenetic Sorrow [https://downloads.khinsider.com/game-soundtracks/album/zero-escape-zero-time-dilemma-original-soundtrack-2022/3-19.%2520Morphogenetic%2520Sorrow.mp3]” by Shinji Hosoe Subscribe on Pocket Casts [https://pca.st/s6lbsym8], Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/zero-context/id1639410711], or wherever you get podcasts. You can support Axe [https://ko-fi.com/winggamer] and Nathalie [https://ko-fi.com/kritiqal] on their respective Ko-Fi pages, keep up with them on Cohost @wingblade [https://cohost.org/wingblade] and @BOOitsnathalie [https://cohost.org/BOOitsnathalie], and follow the show page [https://cohost.org/ZeroContext/] for exclusive memes and research notes. Send your questions/comments/complaints to questions@kritiqal.com [questions@kritiqal.com], and tell your mom about us.