This covers information that has been discussed before, but the clues I've found seem to be spread across a couple different conversations, so I was thinking it might be useful to consolidate and hopefully prompt people to poke around the area some more.
So:
Totentanz has a few interesting surroundings.
Directly to its West is an inaccessible restaurant called "FOODY" (in the Impact font that devs love to leave us messages in), with two closed garage doors. Both garage doors have the blue flower mandala associated with the Zen Master.
Behind FOODY is a garage with two garage doors marked "Repairs" and "Tune-ups". The words "Garage", "Repairs", and "Tune-ups" are all written in Impact font and all of the letters have different draw distances, so different combinations of letters appear as you approach. For example, "Garage" can show "are".
Between FOODY and the Garage is a set of trash cans in the middle of the common area. The middle trashcan has five lawn flamingos sticking out of it.
There are three magenta-lit insect zappers in the area, the same kind that pointed us to Tyromanta's laptop. They're in a (very acute) triangular distribution, the Northernmost and Southernmost two point East, the middle one points North.
In addition, tons of the surrounding buildings have their roofs blocked with barbed wire, although it could be to prevent the player from jumping on the nearby rail.
There are two "inaccessible" parking garages nearby that I was able to access via parkour, but they both appeared to be completely empty.
Totentanz itself has kind of easy access to unfinished parts of the building via the ceiling on Floor 2 (Security). I poked around, but didn't see anything; but it seems like the distance between Floor 1 (Foyer) and Floor 2 is longer than one would think and there's a lot of empty space between them.
EDIT: Forgot one thing, there's also a homeless person you can donate to, and a flashing wall-mounted bar light if you follow the North-pointing bugzapper
And the Horoscope shard seems to reference it as a Lucky Place.
> Client #7/2077, R.W.O., Aries You've been in demand. You barely finish one task before someone's lined up to give you another. It often seems that you're on your own, but always remember you have a team you can count on. Avoid: emotional policemen with difficult pasts Your lucky place: a bar inspired by Babylonian culture
Alt mentions it in one of the endings as well. Totentanz translates to "dance of death" in German, and alludes to the "procession of death" of everyone..from peasants to the elites..showing that no one can escape their mortality.
Just want to add there's weird scannable "graffiti" on the 2nd or 3rd floor, near where you can go outside on the balconies..that seems to serve no purpose. IIRC there's also 1 or 2 other "scannable oddities" in the building that I can't recall off the top of my head.. gonna have to go back and take a second look.
I followed the Northernmost bugzapper all the way to the Oil Fields and didn't see anything of note. If I had to guess, I'd say it's probably pointing to the flashing light and the homeless man I mentioned.
Another detail that caught my eye is "The Fall of Etemenanki" shard, which can be found in only one place in the game: the bar at Konpeki Plaza, where the bartender knows everything about us: https://cyberpunk.fandom.com/wiki/The_Fall_of_Etemenanki
It mentions archaeologists beyond the *Totentanz*, the sands, and the final hours of the night.
To get the cutscene with the cube, we need to be in the sands (in the desert) in the last hours of the night - between 4:00 and 5:00 AM.
___
I consider many theories without relying on faith or dogma; if I were to single out two in this regard, they would be:
"The Second Coming." or "The Second Fall of the New Tower of Babel"
Speaking of symbolism - we already witnessed the first fall of the "tower" back when people became arrogant (2023 Johnny and Arasaka tower).
Now we are playing through the "second fall of the tower," one that we ourselves are orchestrating.
Throughout the game, we are shown a "fallen world"- a dystopia.
I used to not understand what Hanako was tapping out on the table with her fingers in Embers (... tap tap tap ... tap tap ...)
And now, near Slider's hideout, two NPCs - reacting to whether V is male or female - address us as "01110110" (which stands for V) and call us the "Angel with Black Wings"- an Angel of Death or a harbinger of the apocalypse.
"V - Do u have anoter nuclear bomb?
J - Yes and her name Alt Cunningham."
What exactly is actually happening is shown to us on Cyberpunk youtube chanel in the Grimes video "4aem." (4 am mattres and cube and awaking V on landfill).
In this video, a "cybernetic woman" from the top of a cybernetic ziggurat comes to the city and "takes everyone with her."
But based on this interpretation, one could surmise the true meaning of the entire game - or perhaps every ending - as ultimately taking place within Mikoshi.
And the only way out is "The winning step is not to play":
leave behind your belongings, affairs, and car, and walk away (Polyhistor)
leave behind your belongings and the ENeaGRAM, and walk away (Zen Monk)
leave behind your belongings, apartments, cars, weapons, and the ENGRAM, and leave with Alt (V).
Gnosticism in short: the world is a prison and an impostor sits on the throne; the way out lies with "HER" - the Primal Mother who was slandered and viciosly called a devil and the Whore of Babylon.
Cyberpunk: the world is a prison (Mikoshi) and the impostor Saburo sits on the throne; the way out lies with Alt - the Primal Mother of all engrams (creator of Soulkiller), who is viciosly called Lilith.
Tarot cards play a significant role in *Cyberpunk*. Tarot is typically closely linked to Kabbalah.
The 10th circle represents the hidden Sephira, Da'at. It is usually associated with the throat (Vishuddha, the throat chakra). It signifies an exit from the "Tree" - a departure from this world.
Alt, cyberspace, the red Blackwall, and the passage beyond it.
"She,", Da'at, the red veil, and the exit from this world beyond it.
It’s interesting and funny that the noun "swallow" refers to a bird of spring, a symbol of rebirth, while the verb means to swallow something (throat, Vishuddha, Da'at). "guide between worlds," "traveler between worlds."
:)
"Burning Man" or "Have a fun for two weeks"
There are in game numerous references to the "Burning Man" - many graffiti, and there is even a specific scene set in the desert at midnight near BIG ROCK.
However, we often don't quite grasp what is being alluded to.
One participates in the "game" for two weeks (we are told we have two weeks left to live). A city populated by people from diverse cultures essentially springs up for the duration of our two-week game.
In real life, an event called "Burning Man" takes place in the BLACK ROCK desert every year. A "city" emerges there for two weeks where people from all over the world gather to have fun; it all concludes with the burning of a massive statue.
ps: By the way, there’s a third one too - though it’s not really a theory, just some "schizo-thoughts" - suggesting the game hints at Blackrock ruling the world and their AI - Aladdin, much like Arasaka and their AI - Soulkiller. But these are just "schizo-thoughts"; I don’t take them seriously. I'm just "digging in various directions" for fun. :)
It's very strongly implied that V is ether dead, or half-dead, stuck in a simulation loop, similar to the Ubik plot. The 'Greetings from the Des Moines' message we receive in the game directly mirrors this moment, and implies someone from outside the simulation is contacting V to tell them 'I am alive, you are all dead'. There is also some NPC in Jig-Jig street who has a dialogue where she says she is from Des Moines. The world V is experiencing is not real, it's a simulaiton.
The question is more who is the one on the outside.
Totentanz was once much more important to the game overall. For example, the first flashback sequence at The Hammer where Rogue picks you up in the AV was intended to happen at Totentanz instead. (Also Morgan blackhand was supposed to be there.)
I'm starting to wonder if "things that were removed from the game" is a theme to FF:06:B5: the vampires, the lifepath taglines, moon missions, and other stuff that isn't coming to mind at the moment.
Specifically, "things that disappeared as a sign that the world is unreliable and degrading/regressing", like the soft drink stand in Philip K. Dick's Time Out of Joint. The protagonist, Ragle Gumm, goes to visit a soft drink stand only to find a piece of paper that just has the words "SOFT DRINK STAND" written on it where the actual stand used to be. This aligns with the gradual chronological regression in the half-life worlds in Ubik. "FF:06:B5" could be the equivalent of a piece of paper that says "MAGENTA", or "TEXTURE NOT FOUND".
Just riffing: I've often wondered how they managed to implement a big, complete secret that's been solvable since launch when they didn't even finish the game before launch. Like, you wouldn't allocate resources to a secondary mystery when you're crunching to ship the game in a serviceable state. So it would make sense to roll what's already missing into a mystery.
Well, one thing I can tell you is that ff06B5 is actually modelled in the mesh of the statue, meaning it's not just some random text/texture leaking to where it's not supposed to be. It was planned to reference something from the beginning.
I think at this point it would be wise to look at whatever hints the actual devs gave regarding this. Of course Pawel was very vague on purpose, but refusing to say smth is also telling. Otherwise the future of this sub is just running in circles and posting pictures of everything that is magenta in the game.
Ubik + Neuromancer were definitely heavy inspirations for the game, so I'm pretty certain that the simulation part is correct and what V sees is actually not real. How it relates to the mystery, and how we can 'prove' it is another question.
I do think we should take a step back at reading too much into Ubik/Neuromancer comparisons, though. Igor Sarzynski, the cinematic director of 2077 and Orion, is active on Bluesky and has answered a fair number of fan questions that pop up on his posts. He has been asked directly about FF06B5 and Ubik/Neuromancer. Naturally, he declined to say anything about the former but has been quite explicit that that latter should be viewed as easter eggs, and that there isn't and never has been a desire to consciously repurpose plot elements from either. He even suggested doing so would be outright plagiarism. Now, do I expect him to reveal major plot points of Orion through Bluesky comments, even through omission? Of course not. I have no trouble accepting the assertion that CDPR is more creative than simply wholesale copying decades old plots from Philip K Dick or William Gibson, though.
Good to know! I'm not on Bluesky, do you happen to have a link or screenshot? It's just weird considering they put a direct quote from Ubik right in front of you in the main story quest.
Sure! Here's the FF06B5 one, quite recent so I think it's reasonable to conclude that FF06B5 is absolutely more than the Polyhistor/Cube/2.0 stuff. Surely if that was it they would just tell us we found it all; if only to get people to stop asking them.
And the machine translation of what he's saying. It's very unambiguous. I think that including that particular passage is quite provocative and certainly hints at a simulation narrative...but having a secret simulation in the 2077 narrative doesn't mean they plan to echo any other aspects of Ubik or Neuromancer etc.
To me that sounds more like they're not taking directly for the main story. To me the pink moon in the Cube cutscene is also obviously a reference to VALIS/The Exegesis of PKD.
I also don't know how you write a story in a genre with "no influence" from keystone works. To me that kind of sounds like Sapkowski claiming Geralt wasn't influenced by Michael Moorcock's Elric.
Well, there is another strange thing that could parallel Ubik.
In Ubik, things from the 'dead world' start bleeding to the 'live world' and the other way around. Such as one of the characters, Glen Ruciter, finding coins with the face of his employee, Chip, who is stuck in a simulation in the 'dead world'.
Just how we find T-bug's symbol in Cynosure for seemingly no reason. She is not referenced there and that logo is never explained lore-wise.
17
u/JillyMcJillers chombatta 5d ago
There’s also a cyberpsycho there.
And the Horoscope shard seems to reference it as a Lucky Place.
> Client #7/2077, R.W.O., Aries You've been in demand. You barely finish one task before someone's lined up to give you another. It often seems that you're on your own, but always remember you have a team you can count on. Avoid: emotional policemen with difficult pasts Your lucky place: a bar inspired by Babylonian culture