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One of the most memorable moral dilemmas in modern gaming comes up inNo Man’s Skyin the form of Artemis, a mysterious character who serves as excellent motivation for the player to keep going. What makes Artemis so intriguing is that, despite the player not getting to meet the character in person, there is a sense of responsibility that comes during their questline, ending with a decision that lingers long after the credits roll.
Although the exact details about who Artemis is are not clearly laid out, their story is told through bits and pieces of information to make them an unforgettable presence in a massive universe.
Who Is Artemis?
Similar to how the player’s character is a Traveller trying toexplore the depths of the universein No Man’s Sky,Artemis is also a space explorerwho learned about its vast horrors in the worst way imaginable. Making up a huge chunk of the main storyline in No Man’s Sky, Artemis first shows up when the player stumbles across their crashed ship.
That leads to Artemis contacting the player and explaining their predicament, telling their fellow Traveller thatthey do not exactly know where they are stranded and require helpto get out of there.
The player then tries various methods to figure out Artemis' location, ranging fromtriangulating their signal to contacting the local speciesin the hopes of finding their coordinates. Unfortunately, none of that comes to fruition as the player finds out thatthose coordinates do not even exist, and as they forward the update to Artemis, all they can do is helplessly listen to their fellow Traveller being attacked by unknown creatures.
The quest to save Artemis leadsthe player to contact yet another Traveller calledApollo, someone who actually used to know and be extremely close to Artemis, genuinely caring about their well-being.
Sadly, their combined efforts lead the player toa grave that belongs to Artemis, making them realize that there was no way that they could have saved Artemis considering that they had already passed away. All this time,Artemis' soul had been trapped in a limbo-like scenario, making them unaware of their own death and still having the hope of survival.
After coming into contact with another Traveller called -null-, the player finds out thatthere is a way through which they can save Artemis' soul, but it will require something calledthe Mind Arkto carry out.
What Happened To Artemis?
Upon acquiring the Mind Ark,the player captures Artemis' souland brings it to Priest Entity Nada and Specialist Polo to ask about the possible ways in which the lost Traveller can be helped. Theplayer is presented with two options, which is where the biggest moral dilemma in No Man’s Sky comes in:
The player’s contact with Artemis comes to an end if the first option is chosen; however, there arefurther interactions between the twoif the second choice is opted for instead.
If the player chooses tokeep Artemis alive in the simulation, there are multiple moments until the end of No Man’s Sky during which the lost Traveller will contact them.
Being an explorer at heart and not knowing their exact fate,Artemis will keeptrying their best to get outof the simulation by trying to get parts together to create a spacecraft and leave.
During this time, the player will be presented with various opportunities at different pointsto finally tell Artemis the truthabout their current existence.Even if they don’t, Artemis will eventuallyfigure out that there is no escapingand that their reality is actually a simulation, causing them to show their discontent against the player.
By the end of No Man’s Sky, however,Artemis realizes that the player had nothing but good intentionswhile making the difficult decision regarding their fate. Not only do they come to terms with their predicament, butthey also get stuck in a loop as Atlas nears its demise.
