Red Marker

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"The Marker is glorious and divine, you - you know that."

—Capt. Benjamin Matthius

A Red Marker is a reverse-engineered copy of a Black Marker or its respective copies. It was vital in the process of Convergence.

It should be noted, however, the term "Red Marker" stemmed from the coloration of man-made Marker duplicates and not a universal description.

Overview

Emblem of the Red Marker, as seen on promotional Unitology posters

Red Markers are man-made native copies of an original Black Marker that landed on Earth.

No matter the species, a Black Marker can influence any planet's given inhabitants (Usually the apex/dominant species) to create duplicates of itself under the guise of limitless energy. Unaware of the manipulation, the inhabitants' typical reasoning for creating duplicates was usually the harvest of a natural resource for energy purposes. In reality, the duplicate Markers merely propagated the spread of the Necromorph life form and its subsequent Convergence Event.

By design, the man-made Red Markers resembled and functioned like their precursors. The marked difference, however, was the red pigment which they carried. The red hue likely came from bismuth, a type of metal used to replace the certain elements of the Black Marker that the human scientists are lacking in order to create a perfect duplication. This particular trait may or may not cross all species who created the Markers. The Red Markers created by the alien race of Tau Volantis are predominantly black. Their veins are the only prominent red feature.

When activated, the copies emitted a highly tuned frequency to its surroundings that, when coming into contact with dead organic tissue, reanimated the cells, creating the Necromorphs. No matter the size of the Red Marker created, the signal's strength remained the same. Even when a Marker was destroyed, unless utterly obliterated, the carrier wave would continue emitting from its shards. Once all of the fragments of a Marker are destroyed, the signal stopped and all of the Necromorphs created would be destroyed, reduced to an inanimate sludge unless brought back into the proximity of another Marker.

The effects of living humans exposed to this frequency vary. A majority of humans are unable to decipher the signal, perceiving it as mere "noises", images and meanings without coherence which ultimately caused the affected individuals to become paranoid and prone to constant hallucinations. It was hypothesized that this was attributed to some undefined aspect of the individual's intelligence. Notable examples of this tactic can be seen in Dr. Kyne and Isaac Clarke as the Marker 3A urged them both to return it to its proper place.

A Red Marker tended to create the illusion of a loved one. Dr. Kyne often conversed with his dead wife, Kendra Daniels repeatedly saw her dead brother and Isaac Clarke saw his deceased girlfriend. A Convergence Event could be triggered by a single Red Marker alongside the mass of dead tissue created by the Necromorph contagion that it perpetuated. The number of Red Markers present may merely assist in hastening the process.

The Earth Government, despite its apparent awareness of a Red Marker's nature continued to manufacture the copies in the name of creating energy resources or conducting experiments, using the research information compiled by Michael Altman. As a result, the number of test labs housing Red Markers behind shrouds are targeted and used against them by the likes of devout Unitologists like Jacob Danik and his Circle.

Known Red Markers

• Red Marker on Luna.
• Marker 12B on Titan Station in the Government Sector.
• Marker 1A on Aspera - Proxima Centauri System.
• Marker 2A on Kreemar - Gliese 581 System.
• Marker 3A on Aegis VII - Cygnus System.
• Marker Shroud 4 on Uxor.
• Three Red Markers on Ptolemy Station.
• Two Red Markers on the CMS Terra Nova.
• A Red Marker aboard the CMS Brusilov.
• A Red Marker underneath the S.C.A.F. base.
• Countless alien made Red Markers on Tau Volantis.

Speculation

Following the events of 2514, the deliberate sabotage of the food stores on Tau Volantis and forced non-infected personnel to eat the infected flesh and become Feeders.

Marker 3A was possibly using promises of halting the outbreak to be returned to Aegis VII so it could use the presumably greater biomass of the entire infected colony to achieve Convergence. The pulse that Marker 3A released after being returned to the pedestal appeared to be identical to the pulse released on New Horizons and Titan Station. Whether the Marker would have stopped the Hive Mind or not was unknown since Kendra removed it from the pedestal immediately after it was placed there by Issac. However, it was most likely true since Necromorph activity was observed on the planet before the Marker's removal.

It was also possible that Marker 3A allowed Isaac to escape so the information.

Trivia

• The Red Marker like the other Markers resembled the double helical structure of z-DNA, one of 3 helix forms that active DNA could take.
• The Marker signal was actually broadcasted to the Markers by the Brethren Moons.
• In Dead Space, whenever Isaac approached the Marker 3A, it seemed to emit what sounded like several people chanting. What the voices are saying seemed to be the Latin phrase "Sumus hic morte, nostra sanctos deus", loosely translating in English to "We are here in death, our holy god". It was very likely to be a Brethren Moon or multiple communicating through the Marker itself.
• Marker 3A and the Site 12 Marker had seemingly different effects during both games. The first one seemed only to want to stop the Necromorph outbreaks and keep them from happening while the second appeared actively to cause Necromorphs to form and worsen Isaac's dementia. This was the result of two conflicting forces surrounding the Markers. In Dead Space: Martyr, these conflicting effects could be seen simultaneously among the scientists researching the Black Marker. While some saw dead relatives telling them to stop their research, warning them about "Convergence," others heard whispers "from the Marker" telling them that it offered eternal life through Convergence.
• A Red Marker could be destroyed in Dead Space 2's multiplayer mode.

Gallery

Marker 3A on Aegis VII

Marker 3A is brought back to Aegis VII from the Ishimura by Isaac.

Marker 3A after being returned to its pedestal

A Promotional image for Dead Space: Extraction depicting the four survivors standing before Marker 3A

A glowing Red Marker beneath Tau Volantis.

Red Markers on Tau Volantis as seen in the Take Down The Terror TV Spot.

Red Markers shown during Dr. Serrano's briefing to General Mahad.

Red Markers aboard the CMS Terra Nova

Appearances

• Dead Space: Martyr
• Dead Space: Catalyst
• Dead Space (Comics)
• Dead Space: Downfall
• Dead Space: Extraction
• Dead Space: Salvage
• Dead Space
• Dead Space 2
• Dead Space: Liberation
• Dead Space 3

See also

• Black Marker
• Site 12 Marker
• The Red Marker (log)