Photosphere is a 27-page promotional pamphlet for Ace Combat 3: Electrosphere. It was included in the Japanese copies of the game, and provided backstories to the characters and major players in the game, such as Neucom and General Resource. It also provided some information on the world in which Ace Combat 3 took place.
Unlike the game itself, Photosphere was officially translated and provided both English and Japanese text. This article hosts the full English text included in Photosphere.
Contents[]
Pages 02-03[]
There was a change of era. The omens of change had gradually manifested themselves from the time toward the end of the last century. But, as is the case in any era, it was to be considerably later before people became aware of this vast transition in the context of their daily life.
What form did this epilogue - epilogue to an age where state-level politics and judicature were at the apex of the power structure - take? How did the economic might of multinational corporations similar to those of today gain effective dominion over this world? The creation of the transnational economic co-operative now known as Eusia [sic] is inextricably linked to these events. In the ongoing cycle of transnational merger and acquisition revelry, as company upon company attempted to ride out a recession or gain access to a new market, the age at length gave life to a corporate monstrosity, General Resource, that was almost a living entity, like a giant assimilating amoeba. Little by little, "it" gnawed away the political and judicial framework throughout Eusia. [sic] You see, there was no meaning to be found in borders and sovereign currencies for a multinational corporation with planetary-scale intelligence networks and economic capacity. In due course, "it" created an internal post aimed at the autonomous defence of Eusia [sic] and employed armed personnel. So it was that the world accepted this new authority, and the transition was complete. Or so it seemed...
But the quickening - of an existence perhaps best described as a new genus of will; a cell divided from the very body of "it" - continued unseen. It was in a world of information networks created by the billions of terminals that "it" had scattered - a space spun of optical telecommunications, which "it" so ironically named the "electrosphere".
The future is now.
There are three players in this beckoning cold war period, set in the two realities of Eusia [sic] and the electrosphere: General Resource, which dominates through its long-established and monolithic economic power; Neucom, which continues to increase its strength through innovate technology and new information capacity; and the UPEO, which has continued, after reinventing itself, to pursue its mandate for peace keeping from the end of the last century.
Pages 04-05[]
Pages 06-07[]
Pages 08-09[]
Pages 10–11[]
This is the time - go and face the lofty skies! How's it feel, that winged coffin of yours? Cherish your solitude! Believe in only those wings, and that instant will deftly take your life. Know this. Challenge the skies, only visible with eyes peeled wide. I reckon I am big enough a man to concede when somebody does have ability. All combat hinges on your capability to make split-second decisions. Follow me? Keep it neat - always! You've gotta know what it is to push to the limit. WILL your vulcans to strike the target! Ingrain into your flesh the knowledge of experience. Use this! Brace yourself straight away, even in the trickiest of situations. Don't be afraid and just take it on the chin. Listen close - remember that those that don't act don't get results!
Time is mercurial; memory, a series of instants. The true meaning of that termed "now" is beyond our comprehension. For it is impossible to stop the "now" and examine it. That's why. The past dissolves; the future is unknowable too. On occasion, it is the accumulation of trivial meaning. Only the void comes to all without partially. People who have mentally stored away as knowledge such destiny – the meaning of their earthly existence.Pages 12–13[]
Escalating conflicts between nations; a growing nuclear threat - those days have passed. However, nations are no longer able to deal with quarrels between the ultra-powerful multinational corporations, malicious terrorism and potential disasters.
Which is why we at the UPEO, as the world's singular peace enforcement organisation, have assembled the latest military hardware - sufficient to cope with any emergency - and established the vocal authority to hold a dialogue, on a level playing field, with any organisation.
In an age of confusion, where talk of borders and territory has ceased being pertinent, we at the UPEO are all that is left for people to rely on.
Come forth, young aspirants!
Neo United Nations
SAVE OUR PLANET
Introducing two core members of the UPEO: highly esteemed, they have undertaken primary roles in the organisation.
Gabriel W Clarkson, UPEO Peace Enforcement Force Delegate, NUN
After studying international politics as a postgraduate at Oxform University, he held a succession of posts in politics - Secretary of State and Foreign Secretary, amongst others.
After the decline in state authority, at the NUN's inception, he was welcomed as an officer for his political aptitude and breadth of contacts. In recognition of his guiding role after joining the NUN in securing a suspension of hostilities in many conflicts through peaceful dialogue, he is currently serving as the UPEO delegate.
His motto: Even the longest journeys begin with a single step.
Gilbert Park, Commander-in-Chief UPEO Enforcement Force, NUN
After joining General Trading upon graduation from Peijin University, he held a number of important positions in the companies of General Group before becoming a young administrator at General Resource. Immediately after the NUN's inception, he received General Resource's recommendation for a senior appointment offered by the public sector, and joined the UPEO. Pressing for organisational reforms of the then troubled UPEO - a great many operatives had lost their lives because of over-reliance on peaceful and conciliatory channels in a number of conflicts - he sought General Resource's co-operation, augmented its military presence and thereby implemented the UPEO's maintaining of a peace-keeping capability similar to that it has now.Pages 14–15[]
Pages 16–17[]
Today we have an interview with one of the UPEO's ace pilots, Rena Hirose.
1) -What do you do in your spare time?
- On my days off I... can't go for walks, so I watch movies, listen to music - just the usual.
2) -To you, what is it to fly?
- I feel I can truly be myself when I'm in the air. Speaking like this may get me into hot water but... it's like being a child, innocently playing with a toy. A very expensive one, however.
3) -What made you consider becoming a pilot?
- Well...because of how I am physically, I used to imagine, as I watched birds flitting freely across the sky, that I was flying together with them. I just knew I had to be a pilot from the moment I heard that there was such a job.But [sic] when I first mentioned that I wanted to be a pilot, everyone around me was, well, dead set against it. But it was my only dream.
4) -The UPEO provided you with your own exclusive plane, didn't it? And the suit is an original too.
- Yes, that's right. I require a rather special ENSI (the computer-synaptic interface), so both the suit and fighter are a one off for me [laughs].'Even [sic] the fuselage is different in colour from everybody else's. Did you know that?
5) -They say that a gruelling [sic] mission is also a battle with yourself. Do you never feel any insecurity?
- You're on your own, aren't you, when you're flying. Yet, I never feel completely alone. In fact, I feel as if there is someone with me. Uneasiness about what I would have left if I could no longer fly - that's the type of insecurity I suffer from.
6) -Any finally, what is your dream?
- Well being a pilot is in itself like some kind of dream. I hope for that day, someday, when everyone can forget their quarrels and fly free in the sky. Anyway, that's my dream.
Pages 18–19[]
It's a habit of mine...Even when thinking "I can do that", "Only I can do that", or "I can't do that", I'd always, quite unnecessarily, go over it one more time before commenting. A quiet girl - I hate the phrase. Incurable habit: that's the only thing she ever taught me as she walked on ahead of me, further and further away. Like, we all find it easy to compare something close to us. So, I always moved along without getting too close to her. So as not to be noticed; so as not to hurt anyone.
The truth is that it was the stars that I always longed after. Nope - wasn't the sky at all. After all, looking down on the town at night from the roof of some skyscraper. Surely that's an experience we all share. And at that moment, didn't the lights of the town on the ground look far more beautiful than any star in the sky? That's when I wondered how this might look viewed from a much higher vantage point. Pretty silly, huh? Nevertheless, that was my motive, if you can call it that.Pages 20–21[]
The electrosphere - a limitless gallery of information
Nano machine technology - particle tempus determination
Space frontier - the lacquered glimmer of eternity
General Resource, an antiquated leviathan that formerly boasted success, has - with it's [sic] single-minded pursuit of nothing other than its own financial gain; mass production and general, large-scale manufacturing - created a society in chaos. Abandoned orphans are all that was left behind.
But we believe - believe that the future is there to be created by advanced and select hands.
Neucom's technology will shape the networks of tomorrow. Turning from micro to macro - from genetic manipulation and sublimation of the self to development in space.
To challenge without prohibition throws open the door to the future; software unconstrained by yesterday's convention swiftly delivers the dreams of your tomorrow.
Mankind's transition is already in motion in a new form. Don't miss the boat! Architects of the new generation, the future is with us!
A new and incredible future - it's unique to Neucom.Pages 22–23[]
Pages 24–25[]
Pages 26–27[]
How about it then? Shall we start by taking a look here at, say, our human history, and see where it takes us? Ah, I remember now. At the time when politics still held sway, computer technology was nothing more than a human tool. Then, in our imaginary world - of SF novels, movies, computer games and the like - we gave our machines, our computers, personalities, believing that one day the fantastic - robots and cyborgs - would become a reality. But, you see, that idea was fundamentally wrong. God is the only one to whom the power of creating life from nothing is allowed. That's the way this world has been created. However, not in that way,but [sic] if we humans were to become the machines or computers, then there's quite a possibility, don't you agree? I know you do.
This extreme world takes that which forms a human brain, the personality, and converts it without alteration into numerical data, which is then duplicated on a computer. Basically it's a direct brain transplant to the electrosphere. This is the research to which I have dedicated my life - it is my hope.
Now then, I'm going to make it plain and clear here: this isn't one of those wild stories that our forefathers clamoured about.