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Oni2:Slaves of War/Polylectiloquy: Difference between revisions
yet more thoughts on the Daodan
(more of my notes on the Daodan Problem) |
(yet more thoughts on the Daodan) |
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:One interesting question is how Hasegawa discovered the power of the Daodan organism. | :One interesting question is how Hasegawa discovered the power of the Daodan organism. | ||
:A. Could it have been the plant that killed Jamie? Hasegawa was a man of science. Even in his grief, he would have thought to take a sample of the plant that killed Jamie back to a lab, where he could analyze it and find an antidote so no one else would have to die. He would have found that the plant resisted all hostile pathogens, developing immunity almost instantly. This would have started his Daodan Project. (Cf. [[:Image:Dream_7_dying_Jamie.jpg|this image]] of the infected Jamie, who is displaying colored veins similar to the Imago effect seen in Muro and Barabas.) Eventually, Hasegawa found a way to introduce the Chrysalis, wherever it came from, into Muro, but only after much study and in a controlled environment. So even if that "flowering shrub" (as described in [[:Image:Dream 1 murder or mercy.jpg|this clipping]]) was the plant that yields the Chrysalis, it could be that the haphazard introduction into Jamie's body was too much for her to survive like Muro later would. Then again, she died by Hasegawa's gun, so we don't strictly know what would have become of her had that been the Daodan organism infecting her. | :A. Could it have been the plant that killed Jamie? Hasegawa was a man of science. Even in his grief, he would have thought to take a sample of the plant that killed Jamie back to a lab, where he could analyze it and find an antidote so no one else would have to die. He would have found that the plant resisted all hostile pathogens, developing immunity almost instantly. This would have started his Daodan Project. (Cf. [[:Image:Dream_7_dying_Jamie.jpg|this image]] of the infected Jamie, who is displaying colored veins similar to the Imago effect seen in Muro and Barabas.) Eventually, Hasegawa found a way to introduce the Chrysalis, wherever it came from, into Muro, but only after much study and in a controlled environment. So even if that "flowering shrub" (as described in [[:Image:Dream 1 murder or mercy.jpg|this clipping]]) was the plant that yields the Chrysalis, it could be that the haphazard introduction into Jamie's body was too much for her to survive like Muro later would. Then again, she died by Hasegawa's gun, so we don't strictly know what would have become of her had that been the Daodan organism infecting her. | ||
:B. Or was it serving some significant purpose in the Wilderness that drew Hasegawa'a attention to it? | :B. Or was it serving some significant purpose in the Wilderness that drew Hasegawa'a attention to it? If we just make the Daodan a regular plant in the Wilderness that has miraculous properties for humans, it seems to be missing the point. One could surmise that if the Daodan is that powerful, it must be a key part of the Wilderness. If the Wilderness is really composed of alien life, something that Oni is not clear on, then perhaps the Daodan is what allows this life to adapt to Earth. It could be that the Daodan has "infected" every one of the foreign plants in the Wilderness, and perhaps also the plants of Earth that it comes into contact with, making them dangerous for humans in the process. Since we're told that the level of pollutants continues to rise outside the reach of the ACCs, then the question is what's driving this increase in pollution. One answer is the expansion of the Wilderness. Any measures the WCG takes to destroy the Wilderness will not be effective as long as all the plants are Daodan super-powered. This gives us an all-or-nothing twist: either we get rid of the whole Wilderness before it over-runs us, or we yield to the power of the Daodan as the key to our own survival. | ||
'''''Where does the Daodan gets its energy from?'''''<br> | '''''Where does the Daodan gets its energy from?'''''<br> | ||
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:B. The Daodan is tied to the rest of the Wilderness. Perhaps some of the plants in the Wilderness broadcast energy, either as [[wikipedia:Wireless_energy_transfer|conventional waves]] or through something more exotic like "phase transference" that only the plants of the Wilderness can use. Perhaps the energy that is drawn on by the Daodan is collected by lifeforms like the Screaming Cell. Does the Screaming Cell really need all that energy for itself? Perhaps the excess energy stolen from other life collects somewhere, then is broadcast, either by the Screaming Cell's "base station" or by a third plant that serves as a kind of phase-based [[wikipedia:Wardenclyffe_Tower|Wardenclyffe Tower]]. | :B. The Daodan is tied to the rest of the Wilderness. Perhaps some of the plants in the Wilderness broadcast energy, either as [[wikipedia:Wireless_energy_transfer|conventional waves]] or through something more exotic like "phase transference" that only the plants of the Wilderness can use. Perhaps the energy that is drawn on by the Daodan is collected by lifeforms like the Screaming Cell. Does the Screaming Cell really need all that energy for itself? Perhaps the excess energy stolen from other life collects somewhere, then is broadcast, either by the Screaming Cell's "base station" or by a third plant that serves as a kind of phase-based [[wikipedia:Wardenclyffe_Tower|Wardenclyffe Tower]]. | ||
:One final thing to think about: if the Daodan replaces human cells with its own... and it draws its energy from the Wilderness... and some people want to eradicate the Wilderness... what happens to the Daodan hosts if they find a way to destroy the Wilderness? | :One final thing to think about: if the Daodan replaces human cells with its own... and it draws its energy from the Wilderness, not food... and some people want to eradicate the Wilderness... what happens to the Daodan hosts if they find a way to destroy the Wilderness? | ||
'''''Whatever happened to Dr. Hasegawa?'''''<br> | '''''Whatever happened to Dr. Hasegawa?'''''<br> | ||
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'''''Does Mai end up going Imago, at least by the time of Oni 2?'''''<br> | '''''Does Mai end up going Imago, at least by the time of Oni 2?'''''<br> | ||
:A. Option 1 is that for some reason she doesn't, | :A. Option 1 is that for some reason she doesn't. If Oni 2 is not set immediately after Oni 1, it seems unlikely that she would be un-transformed unless: | ||
::1. She hasn't done any fighting (also unlikely) so that the Daodan hasn't seen a need to take her to the next level. | |||
::2. She won't transform unless she intentionally draws on the power and gives in to it. | |||
::3. She was "on ice" for the intervening time. | |||
::4. Muro was just that far ahead of her, in terms of being the first symbiote and in pushing himself to advance as quickly as possible. | |||
:B. Option 2 is that she does, but she can un-transform too, so normally she resembles the Mai we knew. This is definitely the option that is most in line with animé tradition. | :B. Option 2 is that she does, but she can un-transform too, so normally she resembles the Mai we knew. This is definitely the option that is most in line with animé tradition. | ||
::We then need to figure out how long she can transform for. What prevents her from being super-powered all the time? This is a concern from a gameplay standpoint. If we can't figure out why she wouldn't be transformed yet, and why she would be able to un-transform, then we have no choice but to make her all Imago, all the time and simply raise the level of her enemies accordingly (see next question). | |||
:C. Option 3 is that she is permanently transformed. So how does this affect her? It depends on what she looks like, right? | :C. Option 3 is that she is permanently transformed. So how does this affect her? It depends on what she looks like, right? | ||
:: | ::I think any fan will reject the idea of Mai becoming hideous or scary, at least if it's her permanent form, so let's say that she's not that different-looking from before, and and can mask her transformation with sunglasses and a facial mask, like synthetic skin, that makes it look normal-colored. | ||
:::This option, C2, sets us up for a traditional animé-style revelation. At first we're told that she never transformed, for some unknown reason. Then, somewhere (probably early) in the game, Mai meets an adversary who's too strong for her -- or so it seems. Maybe he smashes her in the face, hard, and she hits a wall, and slumps to the ground. Her sunglasses fall off, and clatter on the ground. Meanwhile, your health is getting critical. Then she slowly stands up, face lowered, and says, "That hurt." She reaches up to her face, which seems to have torn skin hanging from it, and pulls it all off, then looks up, and we see her true, transformed face, with its real skin and her altered eyes. Suddenly she starts to glow with a Daodan overpower aura, and her health is fully restored, and now the bad guy is no match for her. She then can use this form (perhaps sparingly) throughout the rest of the game, now that it's revealed that she transformed a while ago and normally holds back in a fight, to keep her secret. | |||
'''''Isn't a fully-developed Mai going to be too powerful to make the game challenging?'''''<br> | '''''Isn't a fully-developed Mai going to be too powerful to make the game challenging?'''''<br> | ||