...we need to talk about the machine...

[AdamvR]

so, what was it supposed to do? It's still unclear to me, even after finishing the third tale.
what I gathered from Rüdiger's ramblings was that he wanted to change the world/see into the future (?)
what data did he collect and how?

at the same time it seems to me clear, that the (mal?)function of the machine caused the energy burst, that caused the earthquakes and chaos and Aurora-overblow.
somehow it also affected peoples' minds, even during the construction (if I got it correct from the 1st tale), and after the burst it made wolves more aggro. how?

what I can imagine is that it was somehow generating a huge magnetic field, that attracted more charged particles from the sun to the region, causing the initial aurora.

What did others make of it?

[Serenity]

All that stuff happened decades ago. It had nothing to with the earthquakes or the aurora. See the date here:

https://thelongdark.fandom.com/wiki/A_Page_From_A_Journal

The earthquakes were already an issue while the built the machine:
https://thelongdark.fandom.com/wiki/Foreman's_Site_Report_Day_45

that attracted more charged particles from the sun to the region, causing the initial aurora.

That happens all the time naturally during coronal mass ejections

[AdamvR]

Thank you for your comment!
I did read through all of the notes again, apparently missed the date on top of that one 18-jun-1991.
Do we know when the game is taking place? ie, the extreme aurora downing Astrid's plane?
 

12 hours ago, Serenity said:

Quote

that attracted more charged particles from the sun to the region, causing the initial aurora.

That happens all the time naturally during coronal mass ejections

Yes, of course, that is why I wrote "more" above. Aurora is the charged particles attracted by the Earth's magnetic field's "lines" around the poles.
My understanding was that somehow the machine created an even greater magnet or amplified the magnetic field so that it attracted _more_ than the usual amount of those particles. Maybe amplified as a result of it being built around/above mineral resources under the ground.
As in Rüdiger's 2nd diary:
"Even if I could never have predicted this result.
How powerful and destructive the amplification would be.
The cascading, corrupting energy from the machine."

Also in the Security Chief's Log 23:
"We ran power to Rüdger's machine for the first time yesterday. It was nothing like what they predicted, even at half-energy".

And in some latter notes the foreman is talking about adding even more generators/power.
Foreman's Site report 38:
"...Makes access easier, if we need to bring in more generators. This think needs all the juice we can find."
and in Foreman's Site report 45:
"The generators they brought in could power a small town through the winter."

[ThePancakeLady]

Somewhat off-topic, yet still on-topic:

Did you know that "The North Pole" (where Santa is said to live) is not the magnetic North Pole. It is the northernmost point on the Earth's Axis. The magnetic North pole is actually in the southern hemisphere, and the magnetic South pole is in Northern Canada. Otherwise a compass (which is also a magnet) would not point in that direction, since with magnets- North always repels North, South always repels South when ends are placed facing each other.

How is this relevant? In my mind, the machine caused such a large fluctuation or change in the Earth's magnetic fields that a geomagnetic reversal or anomaly was initiated (which would qualify as a geomagnetic storm on its own... add a large CME or series of CMEs and --- oopsie!). Geomagnetic reversals or excursions have happened many times in Earth's history, and supposedly none have been definitively linked to any mass extinction events. The game is science fiction- the machine in the game may be exploring a concept of the machine being used to intentionally cause a massive magnetic anomaly or geomagnetic reversal/excursion, unintentionally causing one, or accelerating or altering one already in progress. Theoretical science instead of known/proven science.

[sierra 117]

I don't have much of a theory about the machine , however I was a bit disappointed at the end of the tales , as I thought we would maybe be able to deactivate the glimmer fog. I thought seeing as the glimmer fog only happens in the far territories, that it might have something to do with rudigers machine. 

But sadly no, still have to deal with glimmer fog.

[ManicManiac]

[AdamvR]

4 hours ago, ThePancakeLady said:

In my mind, the machine caused such a large fluctuation or change in the Earth's magnetic fields that a geomagnetic reversal or anomaly was initiated

That does also look like a possible explanation, thank you!

In the meantime I dug a bit deeper into the rabbit hole... bear with me, I think it is quite interesting and will make a lot of sense...
TLDR? Too Long? Do Read it! 😉 

0) While going through Tales, I kept having the feeling that Rüdiger was suffering from some untreated mental condition, and most of his visions (ramblings) are just the result of some manic episode: "In every man’s journey there is a moment of total clarity. When a blue sky or an empty road shows the way forward." [https://thelongdark.fandom.com/wiki/My_Testament]
I think however, that it would be too easy to discredit the whole thing on that. Afterall, he did manage to get this ginormous operation done - so he must have had some credibility to start with...

1) Uranium Mining
The mine in ZoC may have been a coal mine initially, which moved on to mining Uranium.
It is hinted on in the Mining Newsletter found in Idle Camp:
"Increasing numbers of Canadian mine operators are turning to uranium production."
[https://thelongdark.fandom.com/wiki/Mining_Newsletter]

2) Funding the machine construction
It's been bugging me how this years-long operation got funded, but there are hints on it:
Foreman's Technical Log 3:
"One last mission to fill the ledger before moving on to better days. Debts paid, the director off my back for good."[https://thelongdark.fandom.com/wiki/Foreman's_Technical_Log_3]
AND
Foreman's Technical Log 4:
"Did you think the board was going to sit by and let you just walk away? After everything you promised?" [https://thelongdark.fandom.com/wiki/Foreman's_Technical_Log_4]

I imagine that Rüdiger was promising the board of the Mining Company, that he could help the Uranium mining operation somehow (see later).
That is how he got the greenlight and funding to build the machine. [as he failed, the Foreman was tasked to hunt him down]
"The build has the green light. 25.9.82." [https://thelongdark.fandom.com/wiki/Stained_Paper]

3) Uranium Ore formation
To understand what Rüdiger wanted to do with his machine, we need to dig a bit deeper into how Uranium ore forms...
Uranium is found everywhere on Earth, but only in select places in minable concentrations, as there was not a very high concentration to start with, and much of it has decayed since the Earth's formation (due to radioactive decay). The areas that do have higher concentrations could have formed/remained in various ways, two aspects of which are of particular importance for us:
A : As uranium-salts are highly soluble, they can be leached and later deposited with underground water processes - most is found like this. [It is unimportant for us.]
B : Where granite rocks are cracked (due the increased seismic activity), the underlying magma precipitates Uranium into the cracks, which could later raise to minable depths. [this will be important for us]
C : While much of the initial Uranium decayed over the billions of years since Earth's formation, it retained in higher concentration in areas, where cosmic rays have been bombarding it and thus replenish it around the same rate as it decayed. 
"Cosmogenic radionuclides are of less importance, but unlike the primordial radionuclides, which date back to the formation of the planet and have since slowly decayed away, they are replenished at roughly the same rate they decay by the bombardment of Earth with cosmic rays." [this will also be important for us]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uranium_ore]

4) So why was the machine built where it was built, and what was it meant to do...?
I think 2 hints are important here:
1: "This island was meant to give up its secrets to me. Knowledge wired into its very bones. The rocks, the mountains, the deep places under the earth.
A *new* geology. It promised much - a vexing, teasing, crack in the window to the future.  [https://thelongdark.fandom.com/wiki/Rüdiger's_Diary_2] 

2: "Great Bear Island's instability, its many earthquakes and shifting mountains, were thought to be key attributes in our scientific game.
And that proved partially true. Its gnashing rocks, the clash of old and new forces in opposition, did grant us a look in the right direction." [https://thelongdark.fandom.com/wiki/Rüdiger's_Diary_1]

In my current theory: the seismic activity of the island (which apparently was already a thing, before any construction) was important, as these areas have some Uranium to start with [see B above]. Which he somehow wanted to locate ["give up its secrets"] using the machine-generated magnetic field/impulses as a kind of radar; And even enhance/grow by attracting a highly amplified rate of cosmic rays (which were already coming in the polar region as Aurora) [see C above].
By "new geology" I think he meant not only finding, but creating ores and enhancing/speeding up the otherwise slow geologic processes: a "window to the future" technology.

He did understand that this was risky, and that this growth will also come with some form of destruction.
Both in a geological sense: as the earthquakes might get amplified during such an intrusive process; but also philosophically: as it starts a new era that makes most of the existing technology obsolete.
"If we are to move forward as a species, we will need better models for understanding our planet and its potential for *creative destruction.*
Eras when it wipes the slate clean and starts again."

As the inventor of this technology, he "wanted to profit from this knowledge."  [https://thelongdark.fandom.com/wiki/Rüdiger's_Diary_3]

 

+1: cosmic radiation exposure also explains the memory and other cognitive problems observed in all people involved.
"Radiation-induced impairments in spatial, episodic and recognition memory were temporally coincident with deficits in executive function and reduced rates of fear extinction and elevated anxiety." [https://www.nature.com/articles/srep34774]

What do you think?

Edited September 9 by AdamvR
adjusted some formatting, added the reference about cognitive impairments