- “Thing like that, losing the only person you care about for somebody else's war… it makes you take stock.”
- ― Charles Milton Porter[src]
Pearl Anne Porter (née Philips),[1] is the late wife of Charles Milton Porter. Pearl was killed in the Blitz over London in 1940, causing great grief to Porter, and leading him to accept the invitation to Rapture, given to him by Andrew Ryan.
History[]
Early life[]
Pearl was born Pearl Anne Philips, in 1917,[2] and was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Walter Philips.[1] While Milton was attending college at Lincoln University, Pearl worked as a waitress in her mother's diner. One day, Milton entered the diner to eat breakfast, and was visibly shy to the presence of Pearl, although they talked a little. He then came in every day, ordering the same dinner. Pearl's mother told her that his interest was actually in her rather than the food. The two began dating, and a year later,[4] on the 17th of June 1939, they were married in a ceremony held in the Christ Lutheran Church, Oxford, Pennsylvania, and Pearl took the surname Porter.[1]
In London[]
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Milton and Pearl in London.
The following year, with World War II in progress, Alan Turing selected Milton for his codebreaking team, and Pearl decided to move with her husband. While in London, Milton worked in Bletchley Park, attempting to invent a computer capable of cracking the Enigma Machine. This stressed their relationship, as Milton was not allowed to tell Pearl what he was working on, and she felt uncomfortable when alone in her apartment. While in London, on Milton's suggestion, they made several recordings that he planned for them to listen to when they got old. In the beginning, Pearl was uncomfortable with this, but eventually she got used to it, and would spend her time recording while alone.[5][6] Before Milton was able to give her the attention she needed, The Blitz struck London while he was at Bletchley. Milton returned to the place he last saw her to find nothing but ashes, thus confirming her death.[7]
After Death[]
Pearl's death left a hole open in Milton's mind, and he was frustrated about losing her to a war which he did not feel involved in. In the end, the loss of the only person Milton cared about led him to accept his invitation to Rapture, where he accepted Ryan's way of thinking.[8] He constructed The Thinker with Reed Wahl, and started to consider making the machine replicate Turing himself, although he eventually realized he was actually thinking about Pearl.[9] On The Thinker's suggestion, Milton played the recordings of Pearl, which he had brought with him, to The Thinker, giving it insight into her personality.[10] When he was done feeding audio data about her to The Thinker, the machine managed to perfectly replicate Pearl's personality and voice. Milton was quickly put off by the conversation, as he was aware he was only talking to a machine, causing him to end the tests.[11]
After the events of Minerva's Den, Milton managed to escape Rapture and is restored from a Big Daddy to a man again by Brigid Tenenbaum. Later, Milton visits Pearl's grave in London, where he leaves a letter, explaining that he has realized that it was wrong to attempt to bring her back, that she would not want that, and he had now learned to let go of her death, although he will never forget her.
C. M. Porter's Letter[]
"I lived through the Blitz, Pearl - and the fall of Rapture. They took my memory, my voice - everything that made me a man. But nothing ever scared me so much as saying goodbye. I wanted to save you. I couldn't resist to bring you back, the only way I knew how.
But you didn't want that - I know it now. And I think I'm finally ready… to let you go your way.
I stand here, with the sun on my face… and it's almost like I can feel you smiling.
Goodbye, Pearl. I love you more than I've got words for."
-Milton[12]
Gallery[]
Audio Diary[]
Minerva's Den[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 The Porters' Wedding Invitation
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Pearl's Tombstone
- ↑ The Blitz on Wikipedia
- ↑ Charles Milton Porter's Audio Diary: How We Met
- ↑ Charles Milton Porter's Audio Diary: Pearl, Alone
- ↑ Charles Milton Porter's Audio Diary: Thinker Input 1
- ↑ Charles Milton Porter's Audio Diary: Nothing But Ashes
- ↑ Charles Milton Porter's Audio Diary: Somebody Else's War
- ↑ Charles Milton Porter's Audio Diary: The Turing Test
- ↑ Charles Milton Porter's Audio Diary: Thinker, Meet Pearl
- ↑ Charles Milton Porter's Audio Diary: Pearl
- ↑ Minerva's Den | E09 | ENDING [BioShock 2 DLC] [FINAL COMPLETE] on YouTube