Locus

"Locus" is a boss theme from Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward, used by most bosses within Alexander.
It was composed by Masayoshi Soken. The lyrics were written by Michael-Christopher Koji Fox and the vocalists are both Fox and Soken.
==Lyrics==
The official lyrics were released on Heavensward: Final Fantasy XIV Original Soundtrack.
;English
:Seeking the peace of reason
:Sheep in a peaceless season
:Reason to keep believing
:Waken the beast who's sleeping
:Let go this destiny, you're caught in a trance
:Ever marking time inside a dream, no sign of advance,
:You see, the mortal coil we serve is taut like a spring
:Step back! Two-step, two-step, two-step, one two three
:Our world's a fantasy, no more than a test
:Ever feeding off the fallacy creating this mess
:Deep down inside this bleak machine with all of the rest
:Break free! Two-phase, two-phase electricity
:Time turning up the volume
:Time turning on us always
:No time enough tomorrow
:'Fore turning back to where we began
:Twenty-two sectors tested
:Fragments in one direction
:Celestial noise detected
:Delirium unsuspected
:Static tuned in to reason
:Time in the aether deepens
:Transmissions blink uncompleted
:Seven two three two three...<send>
:Arrested destiny, alone in a trance
:No escaping from this waking dream, no hope for advance,
:You see, the mortal coil we serve is naught but a spring
:Unwind! Too slow, too quick, too much to believe
:Your world's a fantasy, you've failed the test
:Ever forging all new fallacies creating more mess
:Directly through this bleak machine, with all of the rest
:DC! Dying, dying, electricity
:Falling back right into the system of
:Falling back on all that's erased
:When fighting back right out of this system
:Means falling back right into this space
:Yes, falling back right in with the system
:Who'll see you falling back to the end
:When falling back is better than simply
:Falling back into pieces again
:Silent steel breathing, breathing
:Memory writing, reading
:Error! Repeat deleting
:Radicals flowing free and
:Energy slowly seeping
:Suspending all disbelief in
:Synergy with our being
:Synapses fire in three, then...
;Japanese translation
:理性という平和を探し求める
:平和なき時代の羊たち
:信じ続ける理由
:眠れる獣を目覚めさせろ
:この運命を手放せ、お前は夢幻に囚われた
:夢の中で足踏み続け、前に進む気配もなく
:そう、我らが仕える「騒がしき世」がバネの如く張る
:一歩後退！　二歩、二歩、二歩、一、二、三！
:我らの世界は幻想にして、実験に過ぎず
:このカオスを生み出す誤謬を糧とする
:全員が、この希望なき機械の奥深くにいる
:待避せよ！　二相、二相電流!
:時間が音量を上げ
:時間が我らを裏切り
:明日には時間が足りない
:始点に戻るためには
:二十二区画の走査完了
:一方向に断片アリ
:天体のノイズを発見
:精神錯乱の疑いナシ
:雑音を理性に周波数を合わせる
:エーテルに浸かる時間が長くなり
:伝送は未完了のまま
:七、二、三、二、三......送信！
:停止した運命、夢幻の中で独り
:この白昼夢から脱出不可、前進もまた不可
:そう、我らが仕える「騒がしき世」はバネに過ぎず
:解け！　遅すぎ、速すぎ、信じがたき情報過多！
:お前の世界は幻想にして、実験結果は不合格
:新たな誤謬を生み、更なるカオスを生み出す
:全員が、この希望なき機械を突破する
:直流！　死亡、死亡、感電死！
:消されたすべてに依存するシステムに
:流され込んで落ちてゆく
:このシステムから抜け出すために戦うことは
:この場所に戻ることを意味する
:そう、お前を最下位に落とすシステムに
:またもや流れ落ちてゆく
:単純にふたたび壊されるより
:後退する方がまだマシ
:物言わぬ金属が息を吸い
:メモリー書き込み、読み込み
:エラー！　繰り返して削除
:基が流れるように遊離する
:エネルギーが徐々に浸透
:我が存在との相乗効果
:不信の一時停止
:シナプス伝達まで、あと三秒......
==Composition==
"Locus" features both a male and a female singer. It is unclear who they represent, though it is likely that the male represents Dayan or Alexander itself, and the female voice is Mide. Together with the "gobbie-speak" vocalist from "Metal", who is likely to be Quickthinx Allthoughts (or, by extension, Shanoa), the three singers of Alexander's boss themes represent the three most important characters in Alexander's storyline.
The lyrics of "Locus" describe several major spoilers: Alexander's ability to travel through time ("No time enough tomorrow / For turning back to where we began"), drain the world of aether ("Ever feeding off the fallacy creating this mess / Deep down"), and simulate entire universes to calculate its optimal actions ("Your world's a fantasy, you've failed the test / Ever forging all new fallacies creating more mess / Directly through this bleak machine"). For this reason, the vocalists' words are heavily distorted, and the official lyrics were released (after much misinterpretation by fans) only after the events of Alexander: Midas revealed that Alexander could time-travel.
Though it may be a coincidence, it is somewhat disturbing to note that the female voice mentions "Falling back right into the system of / Falling back on all that's erased", and at the end of the raid, Mide quite literally falls into Alexander's core systems, which would erase life from the world by draining all of the land's aether if not for the stable time loop Mide, Dayan, and Alexander create.
The following passage is sampled in other Alexander themes — specifically, "Metal - Brute Justice Mode", "Exponential Entropy", and the theme that plays when fighting through Entropy within the Soul of the Creator — and thus can be viewed as the leitmotif of Alexander:
:Falling back right into the system of
:Falling back on all that's erased
:When fighting back right out of this system
:Means falling back right into this space
:Yes, falling back right in with the system
:Who'll see you falling back to the end
:When falling back is better than simply
:Falling back into pieces again
==Game appearances==
===Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward===
"Locus" plays during most boss fights within Alexander. It is track 57 on the Heavensward: Final Fantasy XIV Original Soundtrack.
====Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers====
"Locus (Duality)" plays as the boss theme against the Tycoon in . It also plays as the boss theme against Living Liquid in .
It is taken from Final Fantasy XIV: Duality ~Arrangement Album~ and is track 1 on the Death Unto Dawn: Final Fantasy XIV Original Soundtrack.
===Theatrhythm Final Fantasy All-Star Carnival===
====Theatrhythm Final Bar Line====
==Arrangement album appearances==
===Final Fantasy XIV: Duality ~Arrangement Album~===
A band arrangement of "Locus" is performed by The Primals which appears on this album.
===The Primals===
An arrangement of "Locus" appears on The Primals' debut album.
==Live performances==
===The Primals: Zepp Tour 2018 - Trial By Shadow===
"Locus" was performed by The Primals in a live concert.
===Final Fantasy XIV Digital Fan Festival 2021===
"Locus (Duality)" was performed by The Primals during the Digital Fan Festival 2021.
===The Primals: Live in Japan - Beyond the Shadow===
An arrangement of "Locus" by Masayoshi Soken was performed live by The Primals as an encore and recorded as track 24 on the album.
==Compilation album appearances==
===Final Fantasy 30th Anniversary Tracks 1987-2017===
"Locus" is track 37 of disc 2 on the album celebrating Final Fantasy 30th Anniversary.
===Time and Again: Final Fantasy XIV Raid Dungeon Themes===
"Locus" is track 2 of disc 2 on the album.
===Final Fantasy XIV - The Best===
"Locus" is track 7 on the album.
===Untempered 2: Final Fantasy XIV Primal Battle Themes===
"Locus (The Primals)" is track 5 of disc 2 on the album.
===Final Fantasy XIV Vinyl LP Box===
"Locus" is track 2 on side B of the Heavensward Vinyl LP album.
==Non-Square Enix appearances==
"Locus" is used as the theme of News Check 11, a news broadcast on NHK General (Japan Broadcasting Corporation).
==Etymology==
Category:Battle themes from Final Fantasy XIV