Elsenova

*"Is she a malevolent force of untold evil or a misunderstood force of good? The truth may not even matter; alone in a hostile alien world, she is your only ally."*

## Description

**Elsenova** is the first Rusalka the player meets, and is Trace's only companion through the early stages of the game. She appears friendly toward Trace and willing to help him discover his purpose on Sudra. When first meeting her, she is in a dilapidated state with notable weathering on her head and a missing bottom jaw. After enabling the repair drones, however, she is restored and her eyes open. In her room, the track "Rusalka" plays.

She speaks in broken English, often omitting articles in a manner that implies a Slavic origin. Though she is initially immobile, she is somehow able to watch Trace anywhere he goes, shown to be the use of nanogates in Trace's body, the red "essence" that appears after he dies.

## Location

Elsenova's physical head can be seen in the middle portion of Absu. Upon first entering the room and coming in close proximity with her, the player can trigger several dialogue cutscenes in which she interacts with Trace.

## Story

Like the other Rusalki, Elsenova was imprisoned by the Sudrans underground after crossing the Breach to arrive on Sudra. Their bodies were taken from them as the Sudrans took the Breach Attractor and surrounded Sudra with Breach. After the conflict between Athetos and the Rusalki began, Ophelia created the plan to make a copy of Athetos, which Elsenova appears to have agreed with eventually; it is implied she did not agree or like this plan at first, and doubted her own actions in the conflict. She appears to be close with Veruska, as well, though isn't very trusting of Ophelia, or possibly wasn't in the past.

Throughout the events of the game, Elsenova mistreats Trace, ranging from several unnecessary white lies to treating him like a puppet in order to get to Athetos. She is stated to hate Athetos, and it can be assumed the rest of the Rusalki do as well. She frequently tries to assert power over Trace, insisting he must kill Athetos and even going as far as to turn on his nanogates to show him she's in control of him. She also tells Trace that he was "found" in the Breach, though this may only be partially true; the tool used to detect him, a scry, has an unknown function and could involve the Breach. However, the player character Trace was cloned in a Rebirth Chamber, and Elsenova does not want to admit this until Trace remembers his past and remembers that he's Athetos.

However, she still evidently cares about Trace. She apologizes to him face to face after obtaining her body, and tells him he shouldn't carry the blame for Athetos's crimes. She also doesn't explicitly lie to him about Sudra's past, answering his questions as best she can. After Athetos is killed, Trace collapses and she tells him to rest, easing him into sleep.

Throughout the game, she is both very helpful and very defensive. She is also the only Rusalka to be shown attached to her full body; she bears a fish-like body with turrets all alongside her stomach, and equipped with a laser built into her mouth. This is likely the reason her lower jaw is dismantled when the player first encounters her.

## Gallery

Elsenova as she appeared in an earlier build of the game.Elsenova's body seen before the fight with Athetos.
## References

1. ↑ Steam Trading Card description
2. ↑ Plan B (Note)
3. ↑ The Kuliltu (Note)
4. ↑ Security Notice (Note)
5. ↑ The Outsider (Note)
6. ↑ Cutscene 0030, AV1
7. ↑ *"Trace, my "sister"- Ophelia- find you in Breach."* -Elsenova, Cutscene 0011, AV1
8. ↑ Goodbye (Note)
9. ↑ *"Using a special device called a Scry, we searched for another PatternMind that could stop him."* -Ophelia, Cutscene 0027, AV1