CHAPTER 14 . DAWN OF THE CHRYSALIS
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Having wrapped up her personal business, Konoko's final mission is to stop her brother by assaulting a secret Syndicate base "deep in the mountains". This occurs on Dec. 3, the date Muro's plan is set to go into motion.
Summary
Konoko reaches the compound in some sort of aircraft and jumps down in a state of Daodan overpower. She soon finds that most of the installation is underground. Once inside, she hijacks an armored truck and breaks through some blast doors, reaching the heart of the complex: a giant space which houses a supercomputer, next to which is a silo with a concealed satellite dish.
She learns that the system controls an array of satellites which are to be used to send a pulse to the world's Atmospheric Conversion Centers, as the final phase of Muro's project Sturmanderung. Muro has altered the ACCs to pollute the air instead of cleansing it, a disaster from which only the Chrysalis could save humankind. Konoko theorizes, "He's planning to kill everyone who doesn't sell his soul to him for a Chrysalis." Konoko sees no other option than to sabotage the signal that is about to be broadcast to the ACCs in order to destroy them before they can begin spewing polluted air into the Cities.
Having done this, she heads to the rooftop on the satellite dish's elevator to face Muro. Scenario A takes place if Griffin was killed by the player in the previous chapter; otherwise, scenario B occurs.
A: Muro faces her one-on-one, and transforms to his Imago state, the next stage of evolution of the Chrysalis inside him. He proves to be monstrously powerful.
B: Muro chastises her for coming alone, when suddenly Griffin (in Black Ops armor) and three Black Ops soldiers disembark from a helicopter. Konoko, Griffin and his men face off against Muro and many of his best subordinates.
Upon Muro's defeat, the sabotaged version of Sturmanderung occurs, the results of which are depicted in the Mission Complete screen and the ending animated cutscene.
Added Value
- Griffin's reserve status as a member of TCTF Black Ops was mentioned in this console. Thus we shouldn't be too surprised that he can fight alongside his men.
- Players are never told where Konoko falls from at the start of this Chapter, but in a Q&A session on Oni Central Forum, animator Steve Abeyta said it was a plane. Clearly her power has increased considerably with the further development of her Chrysalis (although it should be noted that she is in Daodan overpower mode at the time, and her basic strength does not appear to be greater as one plays this level).
- It seems odd that Konoko knows where to look for Muro. True, she does write in her diary, "The tracker readings from his plane project him touching down somewhere deep in the mountains." So one can assume that she rents or steals a plane and goes looking for a compound. But if she could infer this on her own, then why couldn't the TCTF? Perhaps they did, as the B variant of the fight with Muro has Griffin showing up to help. Whether he tracked Konoko or followed the same projected course for Muro's plane, we'll never know. Even if the general location of the Compound was suspected after CHAPTER 05 . HOT PURSUIT, Oni's story is a fast succession of events, and perhaps only now are Konoko and Griffin ready to fight Muro, or aware of his exact location.
- Although Muro's choice to transform in the killed-Griffin scenario may be a statement on karma by the game designers ("Look at the monstrous results of giving in to one's anger", or something along those lines), it's difficult to explain within the story why Muro transforms in scenario A and not in scenario B. How does Griffin being dead make a difference in whether Muro can/wants to transform? One might think Muro would be more likely to try to reason with Konoko in his normal form if she killed Griffin, and his Imago state would be more logically used against the combination of Konoko, Griffin, and his Black Ops team. However Muro's dialogue in the A scenario indicates that he wants to show her his Imago state in order to impress her and win her over as a fellow Daodan symbiote, so apparently he thinks turning into a hideous monster is a good persuasion tactic.
- Also on the subject of the B scenario, here is where we see the result of a Daodan transformation if the host has a vicious nature, since Kerr told Konoko that one's nature determines the outcome of the transformation. It's not pretty, but this is Muro's true nature. It does, however, resemble Barabas, albeit to a more extreme degree. There is also a possible tie-in to the myth about oni which says that a person taken with rage can turn into one. (For more discussion of Muro's ultimate motives, see his page and Sturmanderung.)
- In the end, we never see Konoko's Imago state. Possibly it's because she's had her Chrysalis a shorter time than Muro, or she has been through fewer physical trials than he has. Perhaps it's because she fears the transformation and Muro welcomes it. We can only speculate as to whether her Imago form would be so monstrous or whether it would resemble the original Konoko more closely. She was nowhere near as savage as Muro, but Konoko certainly has plenty of violence and anger in her recent past, so if one expects the Imago state to reflect one's true nature, it's an open question – particularly if she chooses to kill Griffin.