Oni2 talk:Caged Birds

Talk page talk

Sorry, but I don't know where else to put this since you are using the talk page already for the below content. A few points:

• Talk pages don't get categorized -- they don't even show up in the list of uncategorized pages. Therefore anything placed here will not show up in the Site Map even if a category is applied. If you're just using this as a planning page for what will eventually go at the real, non-Talk page, that's okay.
• The category would be Oni 2 -- read the description on that cat. page for a reminder of what is supposed to go there. Oni 2 projects of course also get listed by their authors on Oni 2 to make them easier to find.
• In any case, the title "Oni Zero" was already taken by me, albeit for an extremely perfunctory page.
• You're also supposed to place Oni 2 projects under the Oni 2 namespace, e.g. "Oni2:Cage Birds".
• I think you mean to say "Caged Birds". "Caged" is the verb/adjective being applied to "Birds".
• Feel free to erase this message once you've read it, in order to get it out of your way.

--Iritscen (talk) 06:27, 4 January 2017 (CET)

Google hits:

"Caged birds" 519k

"Cage birds" 386k

Because of the high hit count I assumed the second term is also ok. So I took Cage Birds as it also sounds more normal to my German ears. We use a lot merged nouns.

But if you say I should use the other term, ok.

Actually I had Oni0:CageBirds as name space in mind to keep it consistent with other possible titles like Oni1:Remakes, Oni3:FurtherSequels. But you if say 'just put everything under Oni2', also okay. --paradox-01 (talk) 16:21, 4 January 2017 (CET)

If you look at the actual results for "cage birds" though, they're not usually even using that phrase; Google seems to remove the quotes and just show all results for "cage" + "bird". A "caged bird" is a bird that lives in a cage, or a figuratively caged-in person (see the title of Maya Angelou's book "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings"). Technically "cage birds" is also acceptable English, and would refer to birds that can be kept in a cage (because of being more domesticated, or maybe some bird species are just more accepting of cages). But most native English speakers will see "Cage Birds" as a grammatical mistake. Just wanted to let you know. As far as namespaces go, we actually don't allow users to just create new namespaces willy-nilly :-) Creating a new namespace also requires the settings of the wiki to be adjusted in several places. But yes, Oni2: is the proper namespace for all fan material about Oni. --Iritscen (talk) 17:46, 4 January 2017 (CET)

Could you please rename the page? You know I cannot do that without leaving a redirect. --paradox-01 (talk) 11:55, 5 January 2017 (CET)

Okay, done. --Iritscen (talk) 18:08, 5 January 2017 (CET)

General notes

Caged Birds started as necessity to explore existing characters and create new ones to bridge original story gaps. Ultimately Caged Birds is supposed to be the foundation for an Oni sequel named Restless Souls. The work here and the other story writing (RS) is just a fun project. So the progress is slow. It's even possible that this will never be finished. The Corona pandemic slowed down things even more. The only good thing is that it helped in thinking about a few WCG aspects.

Out of insecurity the normal page was meant for "more final" and the talk page for "less final" writings. So some fragments are now double or only marginally different and need cleanup. The talk page should only exist to write down ideas, not fragments.

The RS pages have similar problems. Sometimes it is easier to work on a subject with dialogs, sometimes with summarizing lines. So there are even fragments on pages like "Technologies".

Jamie and James

Where do Jamie Kerr and James (Momuto) Hasegawa meet? Why do they fall in love?

How is Jamie's and Hasegawa's daily life?

Hanna CDC

Final analysis: It was stress-enhanced MRSA outbreak. The infection probably had spread while Hanna was visiting her terminally ill mother in the Russell Medical, Alabama.

Treatment: full body (skin) disinfection by means of cold plasma and phage therapy in combination of CRISPR-CAS inhibitors.

The usage of a molecular printer is not noted in her medical file as the device is under TCTF's high-tech restriction act, allowing research but not medical purposes. Her team leader K. Walker defended measure as justified as they also used the inhibitors on Jamie's environment, in case that the pathogens were resistant to the CP standard treatment.

Hanna's MRSA is persisting but asymptomatic, reminding her and everyone in her team that they still need better substitutes for antibiotics.

Griffin

[Yakuza]

Their biggest coup was Griffin's evacuation from the hospital.

Sayomi: "Hm. I thought there would be more more scum in this city. Oh well, those will do." (The bosses (including Takahashi) who secretly defy Sayomi allowed only disloyal members to join the mission. The bosses are okay with them getting wasted.)

Two dead Griffins? (a.k.a. "The Phönix and the lion (1)")

GATC project: "Spare" (the perfect fake corpse)

Plot twist: "Whose men do you think is she [Saomi] commanding?" The bosses know her plan. They ask GATC for coop. A team is already in the area. They actually planed to retrieve Barabas. (They don't in favor of Griffin. A difficult decision for some. (Random: Surprise, surprise. Griffin didn't know Barabas is a GATC member.) GATC policy is to never back down. They don't let their men behind. (An if one dies they revenge him.) They are going to get him out. The administration sends a SCRAM jet with Griffin's Spare as payload. Actually, they need him alive as he is a key figure in their "Puppet Master" program. GATC plan of last resort was to infiltrate WCG and thereby re-establishing the sovereignty of USA. The program enables them to take control of politicians by means of a combination of colorless "smart tattoos" ("in-burned"/bio-printed circuits) at the inner surface of skulls and ultrasonic micro-devices that can read and manipulate even deep situated neurons. (This is kinda technology is connected to Flatline Zombies...)

The local team is prepared for an exchange. They think they were but they can't do it in time. "Oh great now we have two corpses."

They end up using the artificial corpse as a full-body transplant for Griffins almost dead brain.

Jack's death drives his father into suicide. Griffin doesn't remain unaffected by this but recovers from the lose of this old friend. "I was burnt alive and beheaded. Believe me, I paid." From then on Griffin operates in the shadows. (Rejoined GATC.) He collects resources to let certain people nurse Mai during the years. At the beginning of Silver Dawn he visits Mai. "I have taken your life, Mai Hasegawa. Now let me give you a new one. -- We need you. Please wake up. Konoko."

It is the Puppet Master program that falls into Traton's hand, enabling META to be under his full control.

Griffin seeks to regain control or destroy the puppet master program. Traton foresees such actions and removed the devices. The changes made to the politicians are permanently. So he doesn't need the program anymore. A revelation at the end of Silver Dawn. Ironically Avatara comes around to manipulate EVERYONE'S brain (excluding Jareth and the SLDs) at the end of Silver Dawn / Mind Seal.

"The Phönix(*) and the lion (2)"

The actual leader of Phönix isn't Lionard King a.k.a. the "Phönix". And it is Griffin who isn't the lion (old self) anymore. With his new life and mindset he is the literal Phönix.

King only pretends to be leader. By that he protects Griffin.

Muro

[...]

Life in the Camp.

Rivalry with Ryu.

[...]

Missions with Traton.

Alliance with BGI.

Death of Hasegawa.

Exil of Traton.

Sturmanderung.

War against BGI.

Peace treaty with BGI.

Where did the furies come from?

"The Valkyries are Muro's personal aides and bodyguards. Their presence always indicates his personal involvement in an operation."

Initial story to be placed here.

[...]

The Amazons
Wikipedia: Members of this bodyguard were allowed privileges such as dressing in Western-style fatigues and wearing makeup, or displaying Western hair styles and high heels.

Muro's reasoning, by chronologic order:

• Soldier's advice: make the most out of your life because tomorrow a bullet might kill you. Party and sex after dangerous Network missions.
• Mukade tells him that in company of women a man can hide more effectively in urban or "social" terrain. And since also women are part of the Network/Syndicate they should get combat training.
• According to Joseph T. Stanik, Gaddafi reportedly employed a cadre of female bodyguards because he believed that an Arab gunman would have difficulty firing at women.

Muro suffers under his shortening telomeres. He knows that he is not unkillable, so he need bodyguards. Gaddafi should be named as reference because it is so obvious similar.

However a "single" valid answer should not be given, the reasoning is multi-causal.

Foreshadowing... Avatara: "Ter Hasegawa is the son of a prostitute and a maniac. No wonder he has complexes."

Shinatama: "When you don't take care of humans they will just help themselves. But that's something you won't like either." (Remembering man-hunt on Mai.)

Ryu

Ryu received gen therapies to have the same blood type and immune factors like Muro. In case of an emergency Ryu would become an organ donor. Muro, was too important for Kimura as the boy had the only remaining Daodan prototype. Ryu had to spend more than 10 months in isolation while taking immunosuppressants.

The availability of organ donors were necessary until Muro was an Imago. More Daodan protoypes would require TITAN to carry out calculations for years.

There was another donor candidate at the Camp. In fact, Ryo and the other boy where cell neighbors. He was selected by Hasegawa's idea of scanning WCG medical citizen files. So naturally, his immune factors had a high match compared with Muro. Ryu and Tomo were in the Camp since then.

...

Kimura defended Tomo, Ryu, and Muro against some bullying red-level Striker at the Camp. The men did not know they were standing in front of the head of Syndicate's intel division.

Kimura was faced with verbal threats too when he tried to send the Strikers away.

The next thing that happened was a non-uniformed mid-aged man easily punching, kicking and throwing the Strikers through the entire room and back again.

Later Kimura explained: "Only the strong are respected. If you lack your training people will kick you around. Out of boredom, frustration, or stupidity. Or everything together. And no, I didn't helped you out. They will be back someday. So, don't thank me. Use your time and get as strong as you can."

Muro: "If you didn't do it for us then why did you wipe the floor with them?"

Kimura: "To remind them of me. Clearly, I was too long away from this place. -- Boys, here a special task for you. At the end of the year I want to hear that you have beat up these muppets."

Tomo: "What are muppets?"

Kimura: "Dumpheads, apparently you guys too."

Ryu: "Hey, that's not fair, they are grown ups."

"What is not fair? They were three and I beat them all. What are you waiting for? Proceed the training, you lazy brats!", Kimura yelled.

...

Traton: "How are things progressing?"

Kimura: "I gave them something to work on ... Should improve their reputation. Other than that, they are dumpheads. Why don't you teach them, Traton?"

Traton: "Hell no? Not my duty?"

Kimura: "Now it is. Give them some base knowledge."

...

...

A few years later Ryu received a help call from Tomo. Ryu found him in a Syndicate house. Inside, it looked like a provisory hospital room. But on a table there was laying a slaughtered Tomo, yet he was still conscious, somehow. The situation kind of left a trauma in Ryu. Just before Muro got badly wounded by Z482's car bomb. After Tomo did his last breath, Ryu visited Muro. Kimura told him to leave and not to ask more questions. The two ended up in a fight that Kimura barely won. Ryu counted one and one together: Tomo was sacrificed for Muro's live. The concept of "family" was holy to the mafia, to the Syndicate it was not, just propaganda. Ryu realized what he must get away from Muro and the Syndicate. He thought that Muro was also to be blamed. His instincts told him that Muro made himself a moving target by becoming the next Syndicate boss and thereby bringing everyone around him into danger. This was an accurate guess as the assassination attempts on Muro by Griffin's Z482 would continue. Ryu returned to Tomo's last location but the corpse has been deposed at an unknown location. His remnants were presumably dissolved in a barrel of acid or "buried" under tons of liquid concrete at some construction side.

Ryu told Muro that he doesn't want to participate in Sturmanderung's madness. The two split up after a heavy dispute.

...

12/3

...

During the black season Ryu's Yakuza group distributed so-called Tomo (disaster relief) packages which were positively credited by the locals. Ryu had limited financial resources so from the perspective of his organization the costs of those packages were like cutting in their own flesh.

When Muro was resurrected and escaped GOP's devil, he joined old friend Ryu.

In a heavy attack Muro became vulnerable. But Ryu took the strike of a knife, and losses some fingers but Muro was saved.

Muro told Ryu that he would no longer follow his own objectives. Due to all of his mistakes he made Muro was supposed to cut off his fingers in old Yakuza style. Instead he cut off a whole hand knowing that it would regrow.

Muro: "Since Tomo is a part of me, one could say we will be reunited when you accept this."

Ryu: "Do you think this is funny? You and your sadistic jokes...!"

With his left fist Ryu punched the former Syndicate boss into the face. "Don't pretend you know what you are talking about."

"Rrrraaah." The following kick accelerated Muro into the ceiling, with a second clash Muro hit the ground. Everybody in the room was shocked by the power Ryu possessed all the more he had no Chrysalis.

"You have not seen him! How they left him! Butchered! The guts all open! Just to save your damn life. Dare you."

Muro struggled for air.

From his mouth was blood dripping.

"Sorry-- I'm sorry," he gasped.

Ryu had never heard saying Muro such words before.

[...]

Ryu accepted and Muro's hand was transplanted making Muro literally Ryu's right hand in the new organisation. The rest of the Strikers and their resources were then under Ryu's command. But de facto, the organization was run by them both.

Ryu und Muro realized that their genetic traits are no coincidence. Eventually the identify Kimura as the man behind Sturmanderung and decide to take wrath on Kimura and his innocent wife.

Mukade, Kimura's SLD-clone, pleaded to spare Sakura. Ryu agreed on the condition that Mukade disclose the location of Tomo's remnants.

With the death of Kimura, Mukade inherited "his own" identity.

Muro and Ryu came to the conclusion that nothing changed as Mukade has the brain engrams of Kimura and decide to kill the SLD as well.

Avatara, saves Mukade as he is the only one that has information about the hackers that sabotaged Shinatama.

Daya

[...]

---

Beyond Dragons

Phyllion's Gaia choose Daya to manage the pain of its hive mind due to her experience in enduring and surviving high levels of it.

Gaia wants to cultivate the HM with her.

---

Nature's Decision

Nomen est omen. (In the early story Daya was standing for another idea but now it means "compassion".)

Her position is put to a test after she gets to know that Mai is still around...

New RS notes based on CB

BGI

GATC develops means to detect heat and bioelectric signatures of Daodan symbionts. [...] Sofia, their HQ AI, discovers that the BGI has potential access to the Daodan program. BGI sells robot technology to them and WCG military. GATC is alarmed that some important equipment might be compromised by Syndicate software. BlueMontain gets visited by Blackstars to clarify the connection.

BGI is interested in steady business. Together with Sarai they established their own Daodan taskforce to keep Syndicate and TCTF in check. "Whatever that Daodan-thing really is. We can't allow them to play with it unchecked." GATC followed suit. Killing Muro with normal men failed. What if they would encounter a whole Daodan army of Syndicate or even BGI?

Mukade used Avatar to hack into GV's security network. When Sarai tries to lock them all up, Mukade turns the security network against everyone that doesn't wear a GV transponder. As counter measure Sarai has to shut it down completely. BGI has a backdoor for it since all military parts were made in their factories.

Bertram

(reminder) GATC fired a nuclear missile to destroy the fusion reactor. They hope the Syndicate [Kumo's team] would get scared off by the nuclear fallout and won't further try to get GV's Daodans. The WCG doesn't believe that the fusion reactor exploded by itself. They don't know GATC is in the area so they assume the Syndicate blew it up so that Muro is the only one with Daodans. (/reminder)

BGI and WCG military try to setup a quarantine covering the whole GV complex and a 50 km buffer zone. Nothing goes in, nothing goes out.

Sounds familiar. But they really need medical equipment now.

Due to GV's partial destruction, Bertram and Hanna have to help out in first aid situations. And soon they try everything to rescue their patients.

[...]

Konoko provides dialysis through her own body. Multiple organ failure by fallout or bioc infection. Normally the transplants would be rejected and immunosuppression kills the weakened patients, so they take the organs of dead Daodan hosts.

In the process Konoko ages rapidly. (Telomere degeneration.)

Special fallout case: a Daodan host with sepsis. The Daodan biomass is too young, the antibiotics doesn't work and the phage therapy takes too much time.

"What if we cure the sepsis with even more radiation and protect the human cells with metal insertions."

"Lead? No. Even iron would be toxic in that dose."

"We could cool down the body with ice. It would slow down metabolism and the toxic effect."

"How do you think to remove the metal again. I don't think that would work. - He needs a full body transplanted. Head excluded of course. - All the new immune cells would heal the brain - if they need to. The blood-cerebral barrier should be still intact."

"All we need is a brain dead guy."

"There are no more host available..."

"No problem. We can daodanize a normal corpse - as long it is fresh."

"The accelerated growth would cause immense pain and fever. But that's irrelevant for a dead donor."

"He must be lucky to be dead."

"Uh..."

The daodanized corpse regenerates and the brain shows new activities.

The old personality is gone for sure but the doctors are now standing infront of an ethical dilemma.

Should they sacrifies this new-born person to save their friend who has important knownledge and skills.

---

Colleagues from Silver Village provide blueprints for medical equipment which then gets 3d printed. Also they operate a few patients via remote control.

After first aid is given (now administration-rejecting) GATC team takes Konoko to a saver area as BGI begins to enter GV again. (She is cured in Hasegawa's second lab.) In the meantime the GV staff combines HeLa cells with a Daodan to produce an infinite supply of stem cells. Green Village becomes number one place for Daodan hosts.

The bioc infection remains a persisting problem and energy runs short. Daya could fill that fix those two. [using her new communication means and creating a bioc power grid]

Hanna lectures Navarre for not respecting people's will. She suspects he tried to manipulated the wounded soldier just to experiment with him. "This isn't Picasso Island."

"Maybe it should be!"

"Maybe leave the past behind and finally follow the rules!"

"And embrace the WCG blood-soaked boot camp for renegades?"

"Are you sane."

"Oh right, they told you the pirate story. Well, surprise. My patients visited me on their own!"

Hanna mouth was all open.

"They couldn't afford WCG's upper class treatment."

Hanna remembered that she just received such level of treatment back then at the CDC.

"No one has to starve. No one has to breath toxic air. And no one has to fear lethal disease. With all the technologies that they try to hide here. But no. All they are interested in is status quo and the money. To enjoy themselves while everyone else has to oil the gears with their blood! If the Syndicate is going to robe them and shake the markets- Let them. I don't care. Also! If they aren't going to use anything in this place, now that the ACC exploded, of what actual use are they? -- This is the chance to start over. I don't know what freaking side I'm standing on but I want to see that girl [Konoko] triumph over them [WCG]."

He lifted the fist to the sky. "Daodan to the people. Let us show them the way to a brighter future."

He spinned around with open arms. "A better future than this is!" His words echoed in a walls, blacked from the fire. They ground was muddy, above them a barrier of dark clouds.

"Now," he almost whispered.

Mukade was hiding behind a window. Pensatore was talking in his head: "Someone should clap hands at him. Good talk. But that won't work. The Daodan will change nothing. In fact, it caused all this mess."

Mukade gnashed his teeth. "Shut up."

"How much worse must things get?"

"I could show you how well it would work if you let me."

"No chance. Avatara will handle it. Once and for all."

One more funeral

Bertram and Hanna decide to bury Jamie's remnants. They go to the lab storage and decontaminate the remnants with aggressive treatments.

Bertram: "If you are asked, spare the details. She [Konoko] doesn't need to know this." Hanna was thinking for a moment but then she nods.

Eventually they incarnate the remnants and fill the ashes into a flat glass vessel.

Konoko: "Is this a petri dish? Is this a joke?"

Hanna: "We use these to grow new seedlings. -- I'm sorry, we hadn't anything more appropriate at hand."

Konoko removed the black lid. "I hope there no symbolic gesture with this? As far as I know seeds don't grow in dead soil."

Hanna: "No. No back thoughts."

"What do I do now with this?"

"-- Have you never been to a funeral?"

"--"

"I see."

Her eyes stared into the ashes. "But there will be plenty of opportunities now. I'm sure we all will-"

She put back the lip.

"Really, I can't imagine to bury this."

"A few people simply keep the vessels. Maybe you want to do that too?"

Konoko holds the vessel flat on her both hands. She can't do anything but to stare on this poor excuse of a urn.

"This- this-" She couldn't finish her thought.

The tears run silently over her face.

>> Either she keeps crying (A) or runs away (B).

(A) Hanna: "Oh my. Come. Let's go to the others."

(B) Konoko: "Thanks. Thanks for nothing!!" She stomped away. (I have the feeling she wants to throw it away like a brick...) Why did she gave me this? There's no purpose in this. It's just horrible. Why- (Mukade appears) Why I'm always with the crazy?

A/B cont.

Mukade: "Do you have a location in mind for her?"

Konoko: "No. Not yet. I think I will decide on that when I have found my father."

(Pensatore takes over Mukade's body and prevents him from saying anything more. It's a punishment.)

Even the strongest break

(End of RS? Cycling thoughts...)

BGI still tries to get GV under their control.

Konoko is ready to fight but not the inhabitants. She asks BGI under what conditions they would spare GV.

BGI tells her to surrender. Then GV could remain as a guarded quarantine zone. They are lying, everyone is going to be taken away - or killed in any sign of resistance.

Sarai: "If you come with us. We will consider in keeping this area as it is now. A complicated but safe place."

Konoko: "Is this everything."

Sarai: "You agree on a removal of your Daodan." (They figured out how to exploit the "fixed template".)

They fly back to the TCTF HQ in Tokyo. Before operation they want to download all Konoko's medical files.

While they are sitting in the jets, Jack thinks Konoko is too valuable for Phönix and tries to defend the HQ.

Sarai calls Traton to secure the area. Traton starts Operation Proteus to shut down all remaining WCG law enforcement. To him it's also necessary to silence all voices that are against META.

Jack gets killed by the Syndicate mob. Before they storm the building he manages to download all the files that explain how Konoko became what she is now. It's not just the medical files. It's every available file of her life. BGI wanted to delete those so Konoko could be branded as pure evil and act as scapegoat. Karen escapes with the data, she used an experimental phase cloak.

Konoko breaks out in tears. (...) She drag her to Damocles main node where Shinatama used to be.

Before they can start operation Sarai and company gets attacked by GATC. (They actually wanted to retrieve Barabas location and steal his body in the upcoming chaos. "Heads up. We've got company." (Guess from who Konoko learned this?))

GATC: "No country of any flag should demand from its peace keepers to scarifies themselves - especially if they are just as corrupt of what they claim to fight against. Using her as a scapegoat will not work."

Sarai laughs: "Sure it will. The people are actually begging for it. Can't you hear it?"

GATC: "We had the same idea. It won't help anyone." Fist fight starts.

Sarai: "I see you rejected the idea because of you newly gained moral. Good for you. But they cannot eat moral. -- Call us injustice but we are what the world needs now. A strong hand that will keep the balance. With whatever means necessary."

GATC: "I have heard this tirade my whole life long. -- You know what. Why don't you let us be the necessary evil and beat the shit out of you."

Sarai to Konoko: "This will be everyone's death. How can you allow this. Play your part and save them."

Konoko: "No." She stands up. "I'm done being a marionette." (She tells Sarai that the TCTF controlled every aspect of her life. She lost everyone (Jamie, Shin, Kerr, Hasegawa, Jack) because of the current people in power. She already paid. And now everything that is left is the Daodan. True independency and the strength to correct mistakes. Giving the people a true choice what ways they want to go...)

Sarai is like Pensaore: not believing in human peaceful nature. There better be rulers and ruled.

(Sarai is very strong. Konoko has to disarm her to get the anti-Daodan weapon. ... In the melee the weapon hits both. Konoko breaks down and Sarai get heavily wounded. GATC escapes with Konoko.)

In the final battle of GV Shinatama takes over the body of her sister to help in the fight. ("If you can hear me: don't worry, I'm helping you to fight the battle you can't do anymore.") She must act as symbol of hope and resistance. After it Konoko remains in coma. Her Daodan is in a very bad state.