Is It Possible to Die in the Imagination Station?

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Polehaus53
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Is It Possible to Die in the Imagination Station?

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Well ,the title says it all. I did some research before starting this topic and found that the subject was already been discussed on The Town of Odyssey message boards back in 2007: https://thetoo.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=13978&p=. (It seems like the members on the ToO have literally discussed everything there is to discuss about Odyssey) The creator of the topic, Waluigi Freak 99, said this:
People Can Experience Physical Pain in the Virtual Imagination Station Adventures
George Barclay experienced exhaustion, thirst, and pain during the adventure about the Passover in "Moses, the Passover, Parts One and Two". Lucy was grabbed by the arm in "An Adventure in Bethany", and, judging by the tone in her voice, experienced some pain. Rodney got tired (and complained for a great deal of time) after walking for a while in "St. Paul: The Man from Tarsus".

But, in "A Touch of Heaing", when Jason and Zach were being chased by gun-toting British soldiers in the Station, they showed absolute flippancy, mocking the soldiers while under fire. Obviously, either Jason does not understand how real adventures in the Station are, or he modified it to lessen physical pain, or at least to eliminate the possilibity of fatalty in the Station.

The Nagging Questions
- How real is the pain in the Imagination Station? Can it cause lasting damage to a person in reality?
- What happens if someone "dies" in the Station, do they die in real life? If someone is stabbed by a character in the Station, do they experience the effects of that in real life?
A response Waluigi Freak 99 got was from H Tide, who said,
Well, in the novel series that Paul McCusker wrote, Whit says, "Whatever you experience in the IS should never come out with you—except what you learned, of course."
I was surprised to see that this question has only been brought up once here on the Soda Shop Message Boards, in the Odyssey Conundrums topic: viewtopic.php?f=14&t=1927&p=124907#p124907. Autumnal made a brief mention of it:
What happens if you die in the Imagination Station? Let's say a kid was dying, or was suicidal and imagined dying. We've seen multiple times that it can really mess with a person's psyche (Novacom used it to try to take over the world!) so would "dying" in the Imagination Station actually kill you? Or at least cause irreparable brain damage?

So, is it possible to die in the Imagination Station? What would happen if someone did? (Someone I once asked suggested that the user will appear back in Whit's End, unharmed) There have been many times in the eighty-three episodes that the I.S. has appeared that users have had near-death experiences. A few examples I can think of from the top of my head include the episodes, “The Tower”, and "A Touch of Healing, Parts 1-2". Eugene was about to be sacrificed, and Jason was shot at by British soldiers.

So, can a user die in the Imagination Station? If so, what would happen? (Besides Whit getting in serious trouble) Let’s discuss!

Quick Edit: Yes, there have been many times when the Imagination Station technology has been misused. By Regis Blackgaard for one, in “Blackgaard’s Revenge”. However, I will not dwell on these instances and allow everyone else to speculate. When I made this post, I was actually referring to a “regular” I.S. adventure.
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Bob
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I think we have a sufficient sample size to figure out some answers for this.

Under normal circumstances, with the machine working as intended, it isn't possible to die in the Imagination Station. Some of the 'proof' cases that come to mind: Robyn and Jack take an (unsupervised) trip in "Elijah" and are about to be killed, but are whisked away right before it can happen. The girl in the Middle Eastern Club adventure was 'left outside the Ark', but although the portable Imagination Station wasn't working correctly, it still ended before she was put in 'physical' danger. Also, the similar Room of Consequence explicitly shows, in "Groundhog Jay", the RoC adventure always resetting right before Jay's about to get beat up. That doesn't mean that people don't think that they're in pain or discomfort on some level, but merely being uncomfortable is different from death, and so long as it works as it is designed, they seem to be ultimately safe.

If the Imagination Station is badly malfunctioning or programmed differently, it can cause harm, possibly serious or fatal harm if extended long enough or if the circumstance is extreme enough. Wooton had to break the I.S. to get Alex out when it malfunctioned and put him in substantial discomfort. Obviously, Whit almost died from the I.S. in his "Mortal Coil" program. Whit and the government man believed Eugene would be in danger if the Imagination Station technology was misused in attempting to restore his memory. It logically follows that if Novacom can do mind control, the Blackgaard virus could have implanted onto Aubrey's mind.

Incidentally, Jason's Imagination Station adventure also fits in this category as being 'programmed differently'; he made special modifications to it, which seem to have entailed disabling the I.S.'s 'real-world limits' to allow users to do anything they could imagine doing, rather than only what they're supposed to be able to do. Jason also tends to be flippant even when he's in real danger, so I'm not sure his reaction is all that unusual.
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djchatswithu
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No joke, I've been working out a Fanfic that partially discusses this topic ever since I first heard the Novacom saga and Eugene Returns (I joined partially so I could share it when I finally got around to writing it). I don't think a person would directly be killed by the I.S, but rather would go something like it did in 'the mortal coil" Whit has a mild heart attack for the experience and ends up in a coma, which due to his age, just about killed him. Blackgaarrd's virus infected the I.S program Aubrey was in and controlled her, rather than Aubrey controlling the adventure. it's possible that the virus could have killed Aubrey, though not directly. Remember that Whit and Eugene put her to sleep using the technology, so as not to let her get hurt during a power surge, which previously put Lucy in the hospital.
Another case is that Arthur Dent's mind gets messed with by similar technology, which he says is what killed Armitage Shanks. what if Mr Shanks was used to test out the technologies limits and couldn't handle it. his brain was overloaded causing a tumor and he had a heart attack from the pain, before dying from the brain overload. the technologie is almost the same as the I.S, so it although the I.S has never killed anyone, the misuse of the technology, i.e Armitige Shanks, can kill a healthy person.
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Peachey Keen
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I had a brief idea when I first heard The Perfect Church. What if Matthew drowned in the well and one of the apostles brought him back to life? I think that would have been a really cool thing to show. I was a bit disappointed that it didn't happen, but I can see how that would have been problematic and traumatic.
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Marisa
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Hmmm interesting topic. Could one die in the Imagination Station? I would say no. At least, not directly. If someone had pre-existing health conditions, maybe one could die as a result of an imagination Station adventure, like in the Mortal Coil as Djchatswithu pointed out. There might be programming preventing a person from dying in the middle of an adventure, but if it happened, I would guess the adventure would just end. Has anyone ever had one of those dreams where you die and abruptly wake up? Since the imagination station is sort of like a dream, that’s how I imagine it would happen.
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Monica Stone
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If one was harmed by a programmed character or disaster, one may experience pain or even believe they have died, but when the program ends, they are physically unscathed. For example, George Barclay experienced bodily strains and pain in the Moses adventure, but I doubt it was "real" pain. The effects of the programmed pain would not last when he left the station.

Like Bob said, the station could malfunction and perhaps one could be electrocuted or something. Blackgaard sent a power surge through the Imagination Station and it injured Lucy. So yes, one could die in real life in the Imagination Station. But as for the programs actually having the potential to be programmed to kill someone...no. For example, the Chairman couldn't enact revenge on Whit by putting him in a program where he programmed a virtual assassin to kill him. It could, however, cause Whit to have a heart attack because of stress (but that isn't directly because of the program). In "The Mortal Coil", Whit had a heart attack in the death program, but that was his body's response to the program (not because the adventure itself was programmed so that he would have a heart attack). Another example: Emily had an anxiety attack in the station, but it wasn't because she was programmed to have one; it was her physical reaction to the virtual things happening around her.

Those are just my jumbled thoughts :D
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