The Spine as it appears in-game
"The Spine... I was hoping there'd just be the one." -- Unknown
The Spine is a large Process that is encountered by Red over the course of the game. Several Spines appear in the game, but only one can be fought as a boss. It is a major antagonist in the game.
Info[]
- The Spine will not retreat when confronted at sufficient altitudes
- The Spine's primary attack causes damage in an area at the impact point
- The Spine will breathe forth clouds of Cells when sufficiently harmed
Appearance[]
Tail of the Spine stabbing through a wall.
The Spine is a massive serpentine creature that appears in various locations in two districts of Cloudbank. It has a large, sharp tail which it uses to stab at the player as they progress through various areas. This tail can teleport through walls, is invulnerable to any damage, and is the only part of the Spine that attacks the player outside of the boss battle.
The Spine's head consists of several 'eyes' and a 'mouth' that it uses to spit out damaging projectiles at Red, and only makes it's appearance during the boss battle.
After the Spine is defeated, its interior becomes accessible. These 'insides' are made up of red, black and white designs typical of the Process, as well as a vulnerable 'heart'-like structure.
Trivia[]
- The Spine first appears in Highrise and is later seen in Goldwalk.
- Unknown calls the creature "the spine of the world," alluding to Red's song of the same name.
- In a text response on a terminal, Red promises to "find the thing that's doing this" and "break its heart." Her reference to a heart is later proven accurate.
- The Spine's interior has a soft, greasy texture. Its heart beats 17 times per minute.
- The Spine seems to have a negative effect on the Transistor, causing it to glow red and the voice of Unknown to grow static-filled and become confused, in a manner similar to alcoholic inebriation; he compares it to blacking out and has trouble seeing Red. During the boss fight, the effect grows until the voice disappears completely. Unknown theorizes that the effect is caused by the Spines' massive size and proximity. The effects of a nearby Spine cease when Red enters the Sandbox, leaves the district where the Spine is encountered, or destroys the Spine's heart.
- The Spine is shown to be just one of many - after defeating the Spine and exiting Asher and Grant's office, Red and Unknown observe several Spines flying about in the background as they approach Goldwalk. Another Spine also attacks Red as she makes her way towards Fairview, though it can't be killed; if Red enters the Sandbox after that encounter, Unknown remarks that he had been "hoping there was just the one of them."
- A news post by Amelia Garbur, dated 06-28-67 at 01:33, is headlined "Monstrosity Attacks Bracket Towers." It describes a "huge serpentine creature" clinging to Bracket Towers South, along with a full-scale effort launched by the 18th Precinct to draw it away from population. After the Spine is defeated, a chryon associated with another of Garbur's articles, timestamped 04:15, reads, "DEVELOPING: Monstrosity Dead at Bracket Towers?"
- The Spine may be a biological creature assimilated by the process similar to Sybil, due to its presence of a heart and thus biology or purely a advanced process creature
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