Who is Dr. Aris? The Story Explained

You see his name on the "Keycard Red". You hear his voice in the "Static Radio" event. But who is Dr. Aris? Is he the villain, or the first victim? After the "Bunker Update" dropped last week, we finally have the answers. We found Tape #43.

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The Man Behind "Project 99"

Dr. Elias Aris was the lead researcher for the Aegis Corporation. According to the documents found in the "Abandoned Lab" (Sector 7G), Aegis was not trying to create a weapon. They were trying to cure death.

The forest contains a unique mineral called "Elven Stone" (the blue crystals we mine). This crystal emits radiation that regenerates cells. Dr. Aris built the facility in the forest to study this radiation.

The Incident: Night 0

The game starts on Night 1. But what happened on Night 0? The intro cutscene shows a helicopter crashing. We assume that's us. But the lore suggests the crash happened years ago.

Tape #12 (Found in the Cockpit) reveals that the helicopter was carrying "Patient Zero". Patient Zero was not a human. It was a deer test subject injected with refined Elven Serum. When the chopper crashed, the deer escaped. The radiation from its body mutated the local wildlife. The wolves became shadows. The bears became tanks. And the deer... became The Wendigo.

Transcript: Tape #43

This is the newly discovered tape found inside the locked safe in the Bunker. Access Code: 1987.

[Audio Glitch]
Dr. Aris: "Day 99. They are outside the door. The serum... it worked too well. It doesn't regenerate tissue. It regenerates hunger."
[Banging Sounds]
Dr. Aris: "I sealed the test subjects in the lower levels. But the Cultists... they worship the subjects now. They think the Deer is a god. I am not a god. I am a zookeeper who lost the key."
[Glass Breaking]
Dr. Aris: "If anyone finds this... destroy the Blue Crystal. It's the hive mind. It's sending a signal. It's calling something from the stars."
[Tape Ends]

The "Black Sun" Theory

The last line of the tape mentions "calling something from the stars". This aligns with the community theory about the upcoming "Black Sun" event.

Players have noticed that if you look at the skybox at 3:00 AM, one specific star is getting larger every patch. Is Dr. Aris warning us about an alien invasion? Or is the "Black Sun" a metaphor for the eclipse that happens during the Blood Moon?

Where is Dr. Aris Now?

This is the scary part. We never found his body. The Bunker safe was locked from the outside.

There is a theory that Dr. Aris is not dead. Some believe he is the "Merchant" NPC who sells us goods. Notice how the Merchant wears a gas mask? Notice how he never speaks, only grunts? And crucially, the Merchant sells "Elven Serum" for 1000 Gold. Why would a random trader have the most classified substance on earth?

We believe Dr. Aris is testing us. He is selling us weapons to see if we can kill his creation. We are not survivors. We are the cleanup crew.