Earl Serrano
Sovereign Colonies Head of Archeology on Tau Volantis
Doctor Earl Serrano was the Sovereign Colonies Science Division's Civilian Head of Archeology who led the Tau Volantis expedition from 2311 to 2314. He uncovered the truth of the alien Machine and the Brethren Moons before dying on the frozen world, leaving behind logs found two centuries later.
Doctor Earl Serrano was the Civilian Head of Archeology for the Sovereign Colonies Science Division during the expedition to Tau Volantis that ran from 2311 to 2314. He led the team that first excavated the buried alien city, the frozen specimens, and the Red Markers found beneath the surface. Two centuries after his death his recorded logs were recovered by Isaac Clarke, tracing one man's path from excited discovery to the dawning horror of what the world truly held. (Dead Space 3)
The Tau Volantis expedition#
After the Sovereign Colonies traced what they believed to be the source of the Marker signal to Tau Volantis, they launched an expedition built around a Sovereign Colonies Armed Forces fleet carrying a large body of scientists and researchers under Serrano's direction. Their stated goal was to study the source of the signal and, if possible, draw on the Markers' seemingly limitless energy. (Dead Space 3)
The team reached Tau Volantis in 2311. Following an experiment with a frozen Necromorph Nexus, they identified a massive alien city buried beneath the surface and began to excavate it. Inside they found frozen specimens of alien origin and a host of Red Markers that varied widely in size. As the dig went on, Serrano at first believed the natives of Tau Volantis had created the Markers themselves. (Dead Space 3)
The Machine and the Codex#
Working from the ruins and from neurological data drawn out of a specimen the team named Rosetta, Serrano and his researchers slowly pieced together the purpose of the alien city. They came to understand that it was not a city at all but a Machine. To learn how to operate it, they built a device called the Codex, intended to work in conjunction with the Machine itself. (Dead Space 3)
The truth that emerged overturned Serrano's first assumptions. The Machine and the Tau Volantis natives were not the source of the Markers. They were an extinct civilization that had fallen victim to the Markers' compulsions in the same way humanity later would. The aliens had built the Machine to destroy a newly formed Brethren Moon that hung in orbit, but the Machine was never completed. Rather than crushing the Moon, it only held the colossal creature frozen in place. Serrano further learned of the wider Brethren Moons network spanning the stars, and of how the Moons could speak to one another and to the Markers across countless star systems. (Dead Space 3)
Scenario Five and death#
When Serrano's findings reached the Sovereign Colonies Council, the response was absolute. In June 2314 the Council invoked a Scenario Five cleanse order over Tau Volantis. After the order was declared, Serrano led Privates Tim Caufman and Sam Ackerman to the crashed ship that held the Codex, contacting them repeatedly and stressing that the device had to reach him, as it was his only chance to reconfigure the Machine and finally complete its task of destroying the Moon. When Caufman made it back to base, everyone there was dead, and Serrano's whereabouts were unknown. (Dead Space 3)
Two hundred years later, Serrano's body and his final recorded message were found within the chamber leading up to the Machine by Isaac Clarke and John Carver. In that last message he spoke of having busted his knee open and of waiting for Tim to arrive with the Codex. The logs he left behind chart his journey from fascination to dread. (Dead Space 3)
Frequently asked questions
- Who was Earl Serrano?
- Doctor Earl Serrano was the Civilian Head of Archeology for the Sovereign Colonies Science Division. He led the scientific team of the Tau Volantis expedition that excavated the buried alien city and the Red Markers found there between 2311 and 2314.
- What did Serrano discover on Tau Volantis?
- Serrano learned that the alien city was actually a Machine the natives had built to destroy a newly formed Brethren Moon in orbit. The Machine was never finished, so instead of crushing the Moon it merely froze the creature in place. He also realized the aliens were victims of the Markers, not their creators, and that a network of Brethren Moons spanned the stars.
- How did Earl Serrano die?
- After the Sovereign Colonies declared a Scenario Five cleanse order in June 2314, Serrano tried to recover the Codex needed to reconfigure the Machine. He was never found alive, and his body and final message were discovered two hundred years later by Isaac Clarke and John Carver in the chamber leading to the Machine.
Sources
- GameDead Space 3, Visceral Games, 2013
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Followed from this entry
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Private Tim Caufman was a Sovereign Colonies Armed Forces soldier stationed on Tau Volantis during the outbreak of 2314. An ammunition specialist who recovered the Codex from the wreck of the Mule, he was executed by General Spencer Mahad under the colony's Scenario Five kill order.
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Jennifer Santos
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John Carver
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