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Oni2:Slaves of War/Polylectiloquy: Difference between revisions
Oni2:Slaves of War/Polylectiloquy (view source)
Revision as of 00:22, 15 October 2011
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:Considering how potent the Daodan is, and "user-friendly", it's quite convenient if our immune system can defeat the Daodan if coming into casual contact with it. One almost wonders if that was designed that way.... | :Considering how potent the Daodan is, and "user-friendly", it's quite convenient if our immune system can defeat the Daodan if coming into casual contact with it. One almost wonders if that was designed that way.... | ||
===What is the role of the Daodan organism | |||
===What is the role of the Daodan organism if it was designed?=== | |||
:One could simply assume that the Daodan is an alien life form like the other biota that are invading Earth from across the phase veil. If that's all we wish to make of it, then we can simply say that the Daodan is just minding its own business like any other species, doing what it needs to in order to survive. We don't ask why viruses do what they do, or even rabbits. They reproduce because that's the most basic drive of all life -- to perpetuate its genes. | :One could simply assume that the Daodan is an alien life form like the other biota that are invading Earth from across the phase veil. If that's all we wish to make of it, then we can simply say that the Daodan is just minding its own business like any other species, doing what it needs to in order to survive. We don't ask why viruses do what they do, or even rabbits. They reproduce because that's the most basic drive of all life -- to perpetuate its genes. | ||
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:Secondly, and more importantly, doesn't the Daodan have the potential to transform people into hideous, all-powerful monsters? Why design something that works that way? Well, again, Hasegawa only saw the Daodan as a great way to adapt people to the growing pollution. He probably had no idea of the extent of its transformative powers, and it certainly didn't come with an instruction manual. Thus, it could be that the Daodan is not being implanted/grown properly in hosts. A better explanation, at least for Mai's sake, might be that the Daodan host requires some training or education in order to handle their Daodan abilities properly. It's a case of "mind over matter", and if a host fails to control their Daodan mentally, then they end up like Muro. The stage of development called "Imago" by the characters of Oni could well be a false or undesired result, brought about by allowing the Daodan to run rampant. | :Secondly, and more importantly, doesn't the Daodan have the potential to transform people into hideous, all-powerful monsters? Why design something that works that way? Well, again, Hasegawa only saw the Daodan as a great way to adapt people to the growing pollution. He probably had no idea of the extent of its transformative powers, and it certainly didn't come with an instruction manual. Thus, it could be that the Daodan is not being implanted/grown properly in hosts. A better explanation, at least for Mai's sake, might be that the Daodan host requires some training or education in order to handle their Daodan abilities properly. It's a case of "mind over matter", and if a host fails to control their Daodan mentally, then they end up like Muro. The stage of development called "Imago" by the characters of Oni could well be a false or undesired result, brought about by allowing the Daodan to run rampant. | ||
===If it wasn't designed, is the Daodan helpful or harmful?=== | |||
Life is mainly concerned with propagating itself. It doesn't understand or care that there are other living things around it; it simply seeks out the resources it needs, at any cost (sadly this is even true of humans, the most "intelligent" species). Thus, if the Daodan came about on its own, we would do well to consider whether it's really doing any good to a host at all. Enhanced survivability sounds like a great thing, but what if you always end up as a monster? Naturally we don't want to go too far in that direction because it won't yield the kind of story we want to see/play in an Oni 2. But let's just list the possibilities for thoroughness' sake. Here are the types of symbiosis found in nature: | |||
:A. Mutual obligate symbiosis. Both life forms depend on one another to complete their life cycle. At first blush, we might say that this is obviously not the case in Oni, where humans can take or leave something like the Daodan. On the other hand, Konoko thinks at the end of Oni 1 that we would come to rely on the Daodan for survival. Perhaps the humans of the "brave new world" of Oni 2 <u>will</u> require a Daodan to live. | |||
:B. Obligate symbiosis. The Daodan requires a host to live in. Oni doesn't really tell us where the Daodan comes from, so this may or may not be true. | |||
:C. Mutual symbiosis. The Daodan and host benefit each other. The benefit of Daodan->human is obvious, but do we benefit the Daodan in any way? Requiring a host to live in does not count as mutualism; that would be obligate symbiosis for the Daodan. We would have to provide some other, less crucial benefit to the Daodan in order for mutual symbiosis to be taking place. | |||
:D. Commensalism. Neither life form does much good for the other; they pretty much ignore each other. This is clearly not the case with the Daodan-human relationship. | |||
:E. Parasitism. One member of the relationship harms the other. This might seem to be the opposite of what the Daodan does, but how do we know that the Daodan is ultimately helping us at all? Hasegawa thought it would, but he may have known too little about the organism. Sure, the Daodan helps us in the short term, but what if it's just burning us up for fuel? Or what if it's taking us over? One of the alarming aspects of parasites is that some of them are capable of altering the behavior of their hosts. See the [[Oni2:Slaves of War/Neo-Biology|Neo-Biology]] page for examples of parasitism. Note that in many cases, the behavioral modifications are not noticeable right away. In some cases, the host is eventually destroyed by the parasite, and in some cases it merely passes out of the host after the host has done its bidding (as geyser would say, "[[wikipedia:Does a Bee Care?|Does a bee care?]]"). | |||
To be exact, the word for the Daodan's type of symbiosis, whether harmful or helpful, is endosymbiosis, meaning it lives inside its host. | |||
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===What exactly causes those Daodan super-surges? What do they tell us about Konoko?=== | ===What exactly causes those Daodan super-surges? What do they tell us about Konoko?=== | ||
:Hardy LeBel, in a well-known OCF post, explained that Konoko and Mukade are like super-predators because of the Daodan Chrysalis inside them. He didn't explain what the Daodan surges meant; his post merely explained why Mukade and Konoko were attuned to each other. The superficial answer would be that a surge represents victory over an opponent, like a post-fight rush of ecstasy. That explanation falls flat, however, when you consider that Mukade's defeat did not trigger a surge in Konoko. | :Hardy LeBel, in a well-known OCF post, explained that Konoko and Mukade are like super-predators because of the Daodan Chrysalis inside them. He didn't explain what the Daodan surges meant; his post merely explained why Mukade and Konoko were attuned to each other. The superficial answer would be that a surge represents victory over an opponent, like a post-fight rush of ecstasy. That explanation falls flat, however, when you consider that Mukade's defeat did not trigger a surge in Konoko. | ||
:The deeper question here is whether the Daodan always makes someone into a violent superhuman. If it does, then it makes sense that violence should be rewarded with a rush of pleasure; alternately, the surge may represent a sort of "leveling up" after a successful kill. However, Kerr told Konoko that she would remain true to her nature, just that her final form would be a more resilient version of herself. Also, depending on the goal or "purpose" of the Daodan organism, violent behavior may not be a requisite development at all (see | :The deeper question here is whether the Daodan always makes someone into a violent superhuman. If it does, then it makes sense that violence should be rewarded with a rush of pleasure; alternately, the surge may represent a sort of "leveling up" after a successful kill. However, Kerr told Konoko that she would remain true to her nature, just that her final form would be a more resilient version of herself. Also, depending on the goal or "purpose" of the Daodan organism, violent behavior may not be a requisite development at all (see the [[Oni2:Slaves of War/Neo-Biology#Daodan organism|Neo-Biology]] page). And since Oni 1 is clearly showing that Konoko is not a bad person (at least, if she spares Griffin), then that means that we shouldn't assume her Daodan surges come from a love for violence. | ||
:An alternate possibility is that the Daodan simply advances on its own in random surges. However, each of Konoko's surges occurs right after a fight, which is an unlikely coincidence. Is it possible that the occurrence of a major spike has more to do with Konoko's <u>motivations</u> for fighting? It could be pointed out that all three of the "triggers" for the major spikes are the defeat of someone who has something to do with harming Shinatama. Barabas has just kidnapped her when Konoko defeats him; the room of baddies at the end of Chapter 7 are guarding Shinatama; and Muro was the one who tortured Shinatama personally. Shinatama was the only person Konoko [[Quotes/Consoles#Shinatama.2FKonoko_Relationship|had grown close to]] ''in her entire life''. Konoko even disobeyed direct orders from her superior to go find her. So it's not so far-fetched to suggest that Konoko is thriving, not on shed blood, but on the removal of threats to her friend. | :An alternate possibility is that the Daodan simply advances on its own in random surges. However, each of Konoko's surges occurs right after a fight, which is an unlikely coincidence. Is it possible that the occurrence of a major spike has more to do with Konoko's <u>motivations</u> for fighting? It could be pointed out that all three of the "triggers" for the major spikes are the defeat of someone who has something to do with harming Shinatama. Barabas has just kidnapped her when Konoko defeats him; the room of baddies at the end of Chapter 7 are guarding Shinatama; and Muro was the one who tortured Shinatama personally. Shinatama was the only person Konoko [[Quotes/Consoles#Shinatama.2FKonoko_Relationship|had grown close to]] ''in her entire life''. Konoko even disobeyed direct orders from her superior to go find her. So it's not so far-fetched to suggest that Konoko is thriving, not on shed blood, but on the removal of threats to her friend. | ||
:So, to sum up, either Konoko was being rewarded by the Daodan for her violence, or else her power only advanced when she was fighting to save a friend. This stark dilemma could make for interesting elaboration in Oni 2. Perhaps Konoko is not certain herself whether she is a good person, after the things she's done. If she hasn't reached her Imago form yet, this could be a source of great concern to her, as she wonders how she will turn out when she 'emerges from the pupa'. She may not realize that, deep down, she has real compassion; especially after the events of Oni 1, where she mowed down countless enemies and had everyone out to get her, she might feel that she has no choice but to be a cold, untrusting person. More on this later. | :So, to sum up, either Konoko was being rewarded by the Daodan for her violence, or else her power only advanced when she was fighting to save a friend. This stark dilemma could make for interesting elaboration in Oni 2. Perhaps Konoko is not certain herself whether she is a good person, after the things she's done. If she hasn't reached her Imago form yet, this could be a source of great concern to her, as she wonders how she will turn out when she 'emerges from the pupa'. She may not realize that, deep down, she has real compassion; especially after the events of Oni 1, where she mowed down countless enemies and had everyone out to get her, she might feel that she has no choice but to be a cold, untrusting person. More on this later. | ||
===Who really was/is Mukade?=== | ===Who really was/is Mukade?=== | ||