BGI

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(details)

BGI is among the most diffuse entities in Oni, essentially because it was supposed to play a bigger part in the plot than it eventually did.

Facts

Chung's datapad

Same encrypt sequence as the Q-31 Railgun... ENCRYPT SEQUENCE TmeC119-67 Manifest 12A-694-v contains a number of fragile items. Note the follo.... <TCTF UNIVERSAL DECRYPT RUNNING...DATA FOUND. DISPLAYING...> "Hey, it's me: Chung. Sorry about the encryption. But I'd hate to have this fall into the wrong hands. If you're reading this message, then I've paid the ultimate price for failing my mission. I suppose it was only a matter of time before the Syndicate found out I was a mole. They're smart. That last line doesn't fit into the frame so it's not seen in-game. Very smart."

"Anyhow, all you need to know is in my datapad. Our suspicions were correct: BGI and the Syndicate are joined at the hip. All the contraband leaving this warehouse is being funneled through BGI's daughter-company, Musashi Manufacturing. The warehouse manager has suspected this for some time and has been warning his office personnel to get out over the last month. If I'm dead, then he's probably next. He's a good man, I hope you can find him in time. I hope you have better luck than I did. Be careful."

BGI HQ

In a cut level, the already rogue Konoko was supposed to raid the BGI's HQ. The raid involved blowing the whole place down, and fighting the Iron Demon.

Only known screenshots (click to embiggen)

File:BGI1.JPG	File:BGI2.JPG
File:BGI3.JPG	File:BGI4.JPG

This architecture looks a bit like the Regional State Building (in CHAPTER 09 . TRUTH AND CONSEQUENCES), which incidentally is linked to the Iron Demon through THIS image (Konoko being chased by the Iron Demon outside what looks like the Regional State Building, but could also be BGI) and also THIS sequence of the 1999 gameplay trailer. Thus, many other pre-beta screenshots (or trailer snapshots) of the RSB architecture could in fact be glimpses of the BGI level. We don't know if this BGI level was just a placeholder copy of RSB , or if RSB is what the BGI level crystallized into, as the BGI storyline was abandoned, and the final story emerged.

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Added value

Initials

Quoting Hardy LeBel from the old Oni Central Forum:

I shouldn't tell you this, but BGI was the placeholder name that we started using in the story documents before everything was finalized. It stood for Bad Guys International.

As we know, "BGI" was retained for the final release of Oni, although the humorous "Bad Guys International" interpretation was never mentioned.

Here are other fair enough guesses of what BGI may have "actually" stood for:

• Big Guns International
• Bad Guy Industries
• Blackwater Gone Insane
• Be Good, Inc.

That's all half serious, but "Be Good" is a nice slogan.

Status and role

As can be inferred from Konoko's statements, BGI is some kind of "shadow front" : a big industrial consortium (probably multinational) that's pretty much legit, but is nevertheless suspected to deal with the infamous Syndicate. Whether it actually does and at what level and to what end is again sorta diffuse : is it opportunistic/mercenary, or is it subordinated to Muro?

It's also not clear whether Konoko's and Griffin's zealous crackdown on BGI is supported by the rest of the TCTF and WCG. There's a subtle balance of power between the WCG and the Syndicate, and both sides (especially the WCG) are interested in preserving it.

BGI is an ambiguous organization, poised between WCG and Syndicate, halfway between legal and illegal : a third party of its own.

It would seem to me that even as the core of Muro's Syndicate got corrupted by Muro's megalomania and the STURMANDERUNG perspective, BGI managed to retain the spirit of the pre-Muro Network and Syndicate : they stayed focused on steady business, as opposed to maniacal violence and global biological terrorism.

As long as it helps shuttle the Syndicate's contraband, BGI actually stabilizes the bipolar structure. The Syndicate keeps itself busy and feels in power; the TCTF get a chance to reinforce their credibility as crime-fighters. Same for weapons, and the insecurity they generate : conflict helps the WCG to constantly reestablish itself in the public's eyes as the only alternative to chaos.

Naturally the people behind BGI would be aware of that stabilizing role, and it would actually be quite understandable that the prospect of an all-out crisis (collapse of WCG's authority, anarchy brought about by Muro) should keep them "doing the Devil's work" : obstinately promoting skirmish-scale violence looks like the only way to keep Oni's world together.

Another idea

After the Syndicate is contaminated by Muro, since BGI are favorable to stability and so is the WCG, what makes sense is a pact between the two. The WCG can not undergo militarization at the same rate as Muro's Strikers, but it can turn a blind eye at BGI and even encourage the creation of (perfectly illegal) technology supposed to deal, in time, with whatever threat Muro represents (cyborg supersoldiers rivaling Barabas, Muro and Mukade, weapons rivaling the WMC). Thus the WCG doesn't technically have an army, but it counts on the unofficial BGI rather than on the TCTF to stabilize the situation. Griffin, however, is unaware of these developments and thinks the only chance to restore balance is to "fight fire with fire", i.e., to make Konoko into the same kind of human weapon as Muro is. The WCG can't let Griffin know about the pact with BGI and will thus seek other ways to disrupt the Daodan project, either through investigations questioning the project's ethics and safety, or through sabotage. And of course things will really go wrong when Konoko encounters and disrupts the very entity that was supposed to counter Muro: BGI.

Fun facts

BGI is also a real world entity, namely Beijing Genomics Institute, founded 1999.

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