Atmospheric Conversion Center
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Atmospheric Conversion Centers (a.k.a. Atmospheric Processors) are enormous facilities that "suck in air, treat it, then belch it back out". They are supposed to deal with the steady increase of toxins in the atmosphere of Oni's world (see BioCrisis). Every major city has its air cleaned by one or several such facilities; hundreds of ACCs have been built around the world.
Encounters
CHAPTER 07 . A FRIEND IN NEED and CHAPTER 08 . AN INNOCENT LIFE are in fact two parts of one mission. The transition is essentially seamless, however the player's inventory is reset due to engine limitations, the same as between CHAPTER 04 . TIGER BY THE TAIL and CHAPTER 05 . HOT PURSUIT.
CHAPTER 07 . A FRIEND IN NEED
Add descriptions of Konoko's descent, screenshots of the architecture, terminal readings...
CHAPTER 08 . AN INNOCENT LIFE
Add a description of Konoko's encounter with Shinatama and escape from the compound...
Other references
There are a couple of references to atmospheric processing other than at the ACC. Either early hints at Muro's STURMANDERUNG plan, or late revelations thereof.
CHAPTER 01 . TRIAL RUN
Dispose of the combustion engine parts contained in shipment 2Y-224-B, but keep the shipping containers. There must be no chance that the parts can be tracked back to the original order. Repack the shipment with the Atmospheric Densifiers present in shipment 3X-302-C. Weights will be added to match the original recorded tonnage, but we aren't expecting anyone to open the crates so they will only need to pass a casual inspection. |
CHAPTER 02 . ENGINES OF EVIL
- From the Diary entry
- This place is really big. What the heck are they making here? Weapons? Robotics? They must be building something large. I'd better check the data consoles to see if I can figure out what it is.
- Some of this stuff looks like atmospheric processing equipment. I can't believe I KNOW that! Maybe that means I'm a nerd?
"I'd better check the data consoles to see if I can figure out what it is." - a typical gameplay hint, which actually leads to information on the Deadly Brain. Thus the puzzling "engines of evil" are apparently unrelated to the atmospheric processing equipment, which Konoko identified by herself (in the original Oni, it is not clear what part of the facility she is referring to in either case).
CHAPTER 05 . HOT PURSUIT
Unexplained interference in Sector N31 has been reported to create "ghost" signals which may be displaced echoes of standard guidance transmissions. Report all incidents of ghosting to NavCom Central. It is believed that a malfunctioning Atmospheric Processor may be responsible for the rogue emissions. A Crisis Control response team has been dispatched and will file a follow-up report in 28 to 32 hours. |
CHAPTER 14 . DAWN OF THE CHRYSALIS
Rather ambiguous and untidy references here, mostly valuable for the number of ACCs and control stations worldwide (Tertiary Stage). 417 ACCs means the population is mostly concentrated in today's million-plus cities.
Project: STURMANDERUNG <<<Primary Stage: COMPLETE>>> |
Project: STURMANDERUNG <<<Secondary Stage: COMPLETE>>> |
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STURMANDERUNG baseline report: Dioxin levels
Project initialization: 97 ppm Primary stage: 100 ppm Secondary stage: 152 ppm
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Project: STURMANDERUNG <<<Tertiary Stage: COMPLETE>>> 417 regional atmospheric processors on-line 15 group control stations on-line |
Project: STURMANDERUNG <<<Final Stage Complete: PENDING>>> input>? |
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input>help
input>F1 1) Initialize input>3 |
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Current settings
Frequency: 1002 Amplitude: 233 Mode: 1 input>Frequency = 9999, Amplitude = 9999, Mode: 9999
input>initialize
input>blam! love, little sister input> |
Added value
Location in relation to cities
It is not clear how close the ACCs are to a city's center or suburbs. If an ACC was far outside of a city then it might be located in a Wilderness Preserve, requiring constant decontamination work at the site. But if the ACC was smack dab in the middle of the city, you'd presumably end up with toxic waste (the product of decontamination) needing to be transported quite some distance in order to be safely outside the city.
In a possible solution to the conundrum, this unused dialogue indicates that the ACCs are underground. This would keep the waste separate from the inhabited area of the city, even if it accumulates at the site of the ACC. Judging from the end of CHAPTER 08 . AN INNOCENT LIFE, the clean air has to be driven by powerful turbines to its destination instead of simply vented into the open air as one would expect if the ACC is at ground level (one could imagine that pipes connected to these turbines run up through the city's foundations). Note that ambient street sounds (police sirens, car horns) can be heard in CHAPTER 07 . A FRIEND IN NEED even though no city is visible, adding further evidence that the city being served by the ACC is much closer than you'd think from your surroundings.
The ACC's intake vents, with the massive volume of air they're sucking in, would have to be raised well above the level of human habitation, and for that matter the outflow vents through which the treated air is 'belched back out' would also need to be placed out of a direct line with any people. In fact the ideal system for moving such a large volume of air would probably be giant diffusers with a fine enough mesh to stop anything from entering the ventilation system and also to break up the outward flow of air so it's not creating a gale-force tempest in the city. These vents could be building-sized; even at that scale, a few intake and outflow vent-buildings would be less obtrusive, ugly and noisy than if the entire ACC was placed aboveground.
The structures in the background of the airport poster
showing children in masks could actually be seen as these vents rather than the obvious interpretation as skyscrapers. These hypothesized vents would receive treated air from the ACC beneath them and, by facing in different directions, would spread it throughout the city in the form of a gentle fresh breeze. Intake vents could be built in the same manner, but perhaps around the outside perimeter of the city. This would separate the airflows from directly interfering with each other and, if the intakes faced inward towards the city, might also create a continual current via positive air pressure which travels from the outflow vents in the center of the city to the intakes on the perimeter.