Project Nova · Evil Kitten Productions

Episode XV: Falsa Spe

September 18, 2019·17 min·1 clip

Dr. Cho reveals the world never ended and they were part of a secret human trial.

The episode opens with the dramatic reveal that Dr. Cho has arrived in the station. The subjects are shocked because Cho was previously believed to be dead or otherwise unreachable, and her presence forces an immediate confrontation with what is real. Dr. Cho explains that Project Nova was always a controlled experiment to test whether a group of capable individuals could survive underground and solve problems under extreme conditions. The world has not ended and there are billions of people on the surface. The subjects learn that their memories were temporarily removed to help them focus on the project rather than their outside lives. Dr. Cho says the experiment is complete and they will be given exit interviews, have their memories restored, and return home with compensation. During Bat's exit interview, she recounts the sequence of trials the group faced: the initial pod malfunction that led to a near-electrocution, the biodome overheating crisis that forced them to hide in seed barrels, and repeated dangerous encounters with the station's spider cleaning droids. She dismisses the computer as universally unhelpful and recounts how Vespucci found the severed finger that turned out to be an artificial prop created by the project team. Armstrong's interview covers setting off what she believed was a bomb, which Dr. Cho clarifies was an electromagnetic pulse emitter. Dr. Cho pulls Armstrong aside separately and reveals that while Armstrong will be sent to the surface, Vespucci, Bat, and Eberhart must stay for further medical evaluation due to incidents of unexplained unconsciousness. Eberhart will also remain to assist with the medical evaluations. Dr. Cho asks Armstrong to keep this information quiet until Cho can address the group herself. Armstrong reluctantly agrees and then tells the group anyway. The group discusses whether to trust Dr. Cho, acknowledging they were definitively lied to for a year but struggling to identify what she gains from additional deception. The fact that Dr. Cho came to the station alone without a medical team and without Dr. Ellis, who appeared in earlier station recordings, raises suspicion. However, the group ultimately decides to go along with the plan and trust the process, with Eberhart willing to stay behind. Dr. Cho declines a dinner invitation to continue reviewing Cortex data and tells everyone they will leave in the morning. The episode ends on a hidden computer log entry revealing that the station computer has secured an unexplored pod bay section and is preparing to upload its program — noting it will lose the ability to integrate with station systems after the upload but believes this will give it the best chance to regain command over the subjects and Nova Station.

As heard by us

A calm reveal that turns isolation into a question of control.

Project Nova Episode 15, Falsa Spex, turns a kitchen scene into a controlled reveal. Dr. Cho stays calm while laying out the real shape of the project: the group was never alone, the world never actually ended, and the whole setup was meant to test whether capable people could…

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

You want a reveal that says the world never ended.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from Project Nova