MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD FOR THE ALTERS
Every pseudo-clone inThe Altersis defined by their shared name with Jan and their job title: Jan Technician, Jan Scientist, and so forth. This isn’t to suggest that these Jans are defined by their job titles, but rather that they serve as the primary way to differentiate them entirely. However, the OG Jan Dolski also had a specific job title for the original mission—the plan before he crash-landed on the planet. It is quickly dismissed, even by Jan himself, but he and others on Earth will refer to him as a “builder” throughoutThe Alters.
At first glance, “builder” may be a nothing title to indicate that this Jan Dolski is something of an everyman trope. That would line up with the branching and lifepaths described inThe Alters, and it works when players ask the inevitable: what is he building? Jan Worker is for the workshop, constructing various tools and gear needed in and outside the base. It could be for the game’s base-building, with the original Jan tasked with constructing thebest possible base layouts inThe Alters, but it also seems highly doubtful that such a low-level employee would have access to the command center. The likeliest scenario is that he was responsible for building and deploying Pylons (and the like)for the mines across the planet’s surface, since that becomes such a key component of the gameplay, which seemingly reinforces the understanding that Jan Dolski is an everyman trope. However, two key details completely deconstruct that possibility.
It’s worth noting that there’s some irony in the fact that “Jan Dolski” is the equivalent of “John Smith” as common first names and surnames. This also adds to everyman interpretations, but that’s what makes its deconstruction so much fun.
Deconstructing Jan Builder
Why Jan Builder Can’t Be an Everyman
The everyman trope, when applied to the questions of life presented byThe Alters, would be an effective way for the player to step in and envision these answers for themselves. But that’s not the conclusion thatThe Alterscomes to. Jan Builder is not an everyman; he can’t be. Everyman protagonists are “ordinary people” who are relatable and unexceptional, who are then forced into incredible scenarios. Everyman is easy to identify with, is average overall, and lacks special abilities and skills. Jan may be relatable. Jan Builder may seem average, but he is not ordinary nor does he lack special abilities.
First off is that an everyman is average and plays into the thought that someone can be anyone. Jan has a series of clones demonstrating the various paths he could go, limiting his growth to a handful of life paths. On some level, of course, this is a gameplay limitation. It’s not enough to argue that Jan Builder cannot be everyman because the game limits what he could be, except the game outright says he cannot be every man. A conversation with Jan Scientist, during the interlude beforeThe Alters' Act 3, reveals that Jan Captain is not a thing. None of their life paths would lead them to becoming a captain, the Scientist says, which ties into several themes throughThe Alters. But it also means that Jan cannot be a captain and, overall, cannot be someone who can be anyone.
Furthermore, the idea of the “captain” is explored in Jan Miner’s storyline. There are clear thematic ties between The Alters and Moby Dick, as well as what it means to be a captain of one’s ship.
On its own, that’s a weak deconstruction of the everyman trope. However, combined with the Quantum Computer’s actions, it becomes much stronger. Players learn in that same interlude the truth behind Jan Dolski’s crash landing. In the prologue, players will discover the original captain’s crashed pod where Jan comments on the fact that they died before crashing. It is later learned that this is because a barrier surrounds the planet and there was not enough oxygen to save every crew member. The Quantum Computer, in cold calculations, determined that Jan (out of everyone) was the only one capable of carrying out the original mission: bringing Rapidium back to Earth. Not only is this a fun play onthe “chosen one” trope, but it muddles the everyman waters.
It’s not impossible for a “Chosen One” to also be an “everyman,” but it’s not common and it’s hard to accomplish. After all, the chosen one focuses on special abilities and destiny, which is contradictory to the ordinary characterization of the everyman. This struggle in narrative design is intentional, though, because it forces the same struggle on Jan Dolski. He ultimately ends up somewhere more in the middle, unique despite being just a “Builder.” But all of this, combined with his job title, forces the question: Why did theQuantum Computerchoose Jan?
Building Jan Builder
Instead of dismissing his Builder job title as an ordinary, everyman trait, the story forces players to question why they were saved, and it seems his job title could be the answer. Of course, Jan has been questioning his survival since arriving at the base alone, but the Quantum Computer could have chosen anyone. It didn’t choose the captain who would have steered the ship, it didn’t choose other survivors who would question the ethics ofThe Alters, and it didn’t choose others withbetter Rapidium skills. It chose Jan Builder because he built something. Consider how the story combines job titles with characterizations:
As such, it is obvious that Jan’s job title also correlates with his characterization. Jan is a builder in a figurative sense, no matter what the literal sense means. Jan Builder is someone who has fallen from great heights, literally in the crash landing and figuratively in his relationship with Lena, and has to build himself back up. This building upward projection of his life is not only projected by theTree of Life for the various Alters, but at the end of the game, where he must manifest, climb, and conquer the Interal Tree.
Interal is an anagram for in-alter, implying that Jan is internally altering himself.
Jan is able to build a system where he completes the mission, as predicted by the Quantum Computer, but he is also able to build bridges between the sometimes polar opposite Jan Dolskis. This narrative theme is symbolized by the lessons learned andtheAltersachievementin learning all of them: Jan Complete. He can build a connection with them, as he also builds an understanding of himself, alone and in relation to them. Jan Dolski is a builder in the sense that he can build something out of nothing, build a sense of self on his own, and build all-important connections that further define who he is. His ability to build is the most logical conclusion for why the Quantum Computer chose him, knowing thathis ability to build these connections, in and outside himself, was also the only way of completing the mission.
Jan Builder: What If?
One of the key questions ofThe Altersis “What if we chose a different path?“Such a question would be left open to interpretation for an everyman or defined by destiny for a chosen one, like a captain and his ship. Jan is a builder, and the answer The Alters puts forth is rather direct, applicable only to him and those like him, and somewhere in the middle:
Sometimes it is not an open-ended question. Sometimes it is not a matter of fate or destiny. Sometimes it is taking what you are given, building around it, building bridges with others, and building a better life out of it all. Jan Dolski finds this answer by cloning himself, but the big moment is when he meets his subconscious and builds this connection with himself. Not everyone can be Jan Dolski, nor is Jan Dolski some fated captain-hero, but someone building out their place in the middle.
