19,992
edits
Oni2:Caged Birds: Difference between revisions
m
archive link since World Community Grid seems to be dead; it's been offline for almost a month
Paradox-01 (talk | contribs) mNo edit summary |
m (archive link since World Community Grid seems to be dead; it's been offline for almost a month) |
||
| (21 intermediate revisions by 2 users not shown) | |||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
Genre-wise Oni is for the most part an action and science-fiction title. But when you look more closely at the story - especially into the green console pages and ''read between the lines'' - it is also a detective story and drama. Since action is more suited for movies, games and other visual media the written prequel and sequels focus less on action but on the others, forenamed genres. Oni Caged Birds (working title) is meant to close story gaps while exploring possible past events. | Genre-wise Oni is for the most part an action and science-fiction title. But when you look more closely at the story - especially into the green console pages and ''read between the lines'' - it is also a detective story and drama. Since action is more suited for movies, games and other visual media the written prequel and sequels focus less on action but on the others, forenamed genres. Oni Caged Birds (working title) is meant to close story gaps while exploring possible past events. | ||
| Line 8: | Line 7: | ||
---- | ---- | ||
[Rearrange some events?] | |||
Kumo, Pest control (plan), Shinatama (brain backup), Daodan implementation, Isolation, Sytropin, Jack, Fake OP | |||
Muro, Ryu, Tomo, Daodandroids, Saomi | |||
Pest control (failure) | |||
TCTF finalizes their Daodan weapon | |||
==Intro== | ==Intro== | ||
| Line 66: | Line 68: | ||
==BioCrisis== | ==BioCrisis: leaf one== | ||
{| class="wikitable" width="200" style="float:right; margin-left: 20px;" | {| class="wikitable" width="200" style="float:right; margin-left: 20px;" | ||
| It was not intended to let the story start with a corpse per se. In retrospect it can act as a "morbid homage" to the original, a detective story that started with Agent Chung who had been found dead at the Syndicate warehouse. Ultimately, a victim to the system, not very different than Jamie. If we want to think about how Mai became the person she is we have to research her past, the creation of the Daodan and the events involving her parents. Jamie's death was Hasegawa's primary motivation for the Daodan. So, also in logic, it pretty much starts here - but evolves into something much greater. | | It was not intended to let the story start with a corpse per se. In retrospect it can act as a "morbid homage" to the original, a detective story that started with Agent Chung who had been found dead at the Syndicate warehouse. Ultimately, a victim to the system, not very different than Jamie. If we want to think about how Mai became the person she is we have to research her past, the creation of the Daodan and the events involving her parents. Jamie's death was Hasegawa's primary motivation for the Daodan. So, also in logic, it pretty much starts here - but evolves into something much greater. | ||
| Line 222: | Line 224: | ||
Walker: "I will let the team work out a solution. We will find a way." | Walker: "I will let the team work out a solution. We will find a way." | ||
==Standoff== | ==Standoff== | ||
| Line 241: | Line 242: | ||
After a moment of thinking, he replied aloud. "Right now the courts are overloaded. It might be indeed possible to shorten this issue. We will call you next Monday about the details. Until then we insist that you don't leave the town." | After a moment of thinking, he replied aloud. "Right now the courts are overloaded. It might be indeed possible to shorten this issue. We will call you next Monday about the details. Until then we insist that you don't leave the town." | ||
During the second unofficial hearing Hasegawa explained he owned a pistol to defend against wild animals that could carry diseases. | |||
The investigation of Jamie's case didn't delivered useful results. Hasegawa and prosecution agree on a deal. They drop his charges of wearing an unregistered handgun, killing Jamie and entering the Wilderness Preserve Sector (WPS). In return Hasegawa doesn't talk about the poisonous WPS with anyone, cuts all connections to the group of activists and resigns his job at university. He tells his colleagues that he needs time to grieve. | |||
==A pact with the devil== | ==A pact with the devil== | ||
| Line 297: | Line 301: | ||
Hasegawa: "Uh, I mean..." | Hasegawa: "Uh, I mean..." | ||
Kerr had followed Hasegawa's eyes and noticed her reaction. His dark expression was possibly meant for his friend but by having turned around the old lady stood to him face to face. She looked like she would freaking out any moment. She pulled at the leash of her [[ | Kerr had followed Hasegawa's eyes and noticed her reaction. His dark expression was possibly meant for his friend but by having turned around the old lady stood to him face to face. She looked like she would freaking out any moment. She pulled at the leash of her [[wp:Hachikō|Hachiko]]. | ||
Kerr: "We maybe should discuss the details at another location." | Kerr: "We maybe should discuss the details at another location." | ||
| Line 531: | Line 535: | ||
---- | ---- | ||
Kerr and Hasegawa were sitting in their array of fused containers and ate instant [[ | Kerr and Hasegawa were sitting in their array of fused containers and ate instant [[wp:Ramen|ramen]]. | ||
There were screens in the background running legions of numbers and status messages. In the visuals one protein folding followed another. | There were screens in the background running legions of numbers and status messages. In the visuals one protein folding followed another. | ||
| Line 584: | Line 588: | ||
[Hasegawa and Kerr ask for more and more resources. Eventually, after a demonstration of their abilities and some early Daodan building blocks, Mukade provides them the necessary resources. First he steels a sample of Jamie's remnants and then he makes contact with Pensatore and forces him to join the Daodan project. Pensatore realizes flaws within the Daodan concept and proposes an alternative for humans' self-directed evolution.] | [Hasegawa and Kerr ask for more and more resources. Eventually, after a demonstration of their abilities and some early Daodan building blocks, Mukade provides them the necessary resources. First he steels a sample of Jamie's remnants and then he makes contact with Pensatore and forces him to join the Daodan project. Pensatore realizes flaws within the Daodan concept and proposes an alternative for humans' self-directed evolution.] | ||
---- | |||
Kimura organized a sample of Jamie's remnants to test the pathogens against Hasegawa's artificial immune cells. | Kimura organized a sample of Jamie's remnants from Marburg to test the pathogens against Hasegawa's artificial immune cells. | ||
Jamie's sample is too much degraded. So Kimura looks for a better one. | Jamie's sample is too much degraded. So Kimura looks for a better one. | ||
Hasegawa needs the mycorrhiza sample to test it against his Daodan prototype. A positive result would give him the certainty that Jamie's death hasn't been in vain. | |||
As reaction to the security breach in the BSL-4, TCTF bio treat committee decreed Jamie's relocation to [[Restless_Souls/Summary#Green_Village|Green Village]] (GV) which is secured by WCG military. | |||
To continue research Hanna applied for a transfer to Green Village and Walker gave her a letter of recommendation. | |||
The CDC official report doesn't clarifies Jamie's death cause. They suspect the mycorrhiza but can't say so without more evidences and by not causing political disturbance. | |||
Mukade gets in contact with a BlueMountain worker at the construction site. Together they plan a route to retrieve a fresh sample. They are manipulating shift plans and concrete mixtures. The BlueMountains protoype of smart concrete (Another bioc precursor?) will allow them to slip through walls. For the actual coup Mukade remote controls the worker. (He was paralyzed and received artificial nerves to bypass the damaged tissue. Mukade caused that accident so that the worker could be modified by the doctors (Syndicate technicians). Mukade: "Now that you have cybernetics why don't we take that as an advantage? You can inherit my skills.") All in all, the planing, preparations, rehab and body modifications took half a year. Everything that enters or leaves GV is extensively scanned. The capsule's components are distributed on two repair sets inside the truck. After Mukade obtained the sample, they hide the capsule in a still liquid concrete part of a strut. That piece gets declared as mechanical unstable at the same day and gets replaced. The capsule has a X-ray cloak and remains undetected as the strut passes the scanner on the exit gate. Hasegawa verifies the sample. Short after that Mukade met that worker again to offer him a second job. As soon as he agrees Mukade kills via remote control. A perfectly faked suicide. While his death remains a mystery, BlueMountain and BGI detect the irregularities caused by the worker and begin to investigate. (Is Sarai in charge of that case? Paperwork bores her to death. No. She would have been to young.) | |||
==Green Village== | ==Green Village== | ||
| Line 817: | Line 830: | ||
The two were sitting at the cafeteria. | The two were sitting at the cafeteria. | ||
Hanna was thinking about the recording again. "For a highly costly area like this I'm surprised | Hanna was thinking about the recording again. "For a highly costly area like this I'm surprised they added such ''oddness''. In context of what kind of people are supposed to work here ... shouldn't most of them notice it?" | ||
Blake | Blake: "Don't you think you are a little over-interpreting here?" | ||
Hanna: " | Blake kept eye contact while he was sipping at the coffee. | ||
Hanna: "When will these stupid tests finally stop?" | |||
Blake took another sip. He smirked. | Blake took another sip. He smirked. | ||
| Line 829: | Line 844: | ||
Blake continued touring with Hanna through Green Village therefor her indoctrination. | Blake continued touring with Hanna through Green Village therefor her indoctrination. | ||
GV acts as digital Spitzbergen. They record the genetic, [[ | GV acts as digital Spitzbergen. They record the genetic, [[wp:Epigenetics|epigenetic]], anatomic information, natural habitat, life cycle and social behavior of any organism. The all-embracing data sets are the foundation for insilico research, for generating and altering new organisms. That way the villages can fully restore or alter their host eco-systems may it be due to climate change or after any other global catastrophe like asteroid impacts. | ||
GV's infrastructures to cope with worst case scenarios are later abused by GOP to participate in the Black Season war. [Leviathan, Behemoth, etc.] | GV's infrastructures to cope with worst case scenarios are later abused by GOP to participate in the Black Season war. [Leviathan, Behemoth, etc.] | ||
| Line 844: | Line 859: | ||
Mention suspicion here that Hanna may work for terrorists since she just arrived after the Marburg incidence. | Mention suspicion here that Hanna may work for terrorists since she just arrived after the Marburg incidence. | ||
==Pirates and treasures== | |||
Hanna passed the hygiene test. | |||
The second test is of trust and loyalty. A typical dilemma. She reports Bertram to not fail on her own mission. Bertram tells her later that betraying him was the right decision to get the position in GV – he’s taking it with humour. Hanna is from now on one of the new supervising officers for the secured sci. She tells them that she supports them if they support her. A cordial relationship forms over the years, they kind of become a big, strange family. | |||
Bertram to Hanna: "So actually you turned yourself in to do science?" | |||
==Gray mass== | ==Gray mass== | ||
| Line 849: | Line 871: | ||
Kimura uses a construction worker to get into GV and steal another sample of Jamie. By doing that he discovers a interesting story behind the Bioc concrete. But besides being interesting the Bioc has currently no real value to him. Kimura cuts lose ends by disposing the construction worker. | Kimura uses a construction worker to get into GV and steal another sample of Jamie. By doing that he discovers a interesting story behind the Bioc concrete. But besides being interesting the Bioc has currently no real value to him. Kimura cuts lose ends by disposing the construction worker. | ||
==Iron Demon== | ==Iron Demon== | ||
| Line 900: | Line 921: | ||
"For instance we almost killed ourselves with nuclear weapons. Created by smart people, controlled by smart people. There were so many weapons to kill ourselves multiple times. Overkill." | "For instance we almost killed ourselves with nuclear weapons. Created by smart people, controlled by smart people. There were so many weapons to kill ourselves multiple times. Overkill." | ||
"It seems that we are not smart enough anymore for the tools we possess. Some decades ago there was a [[ | "It seems that we are not smart enough anymore for the tools we possess. Some decades ago there was a [[wp:Stanislav Petrov|soldier whose instruments detected an intercontinental missile with a nuclear warhead]]. He didn't followed protocol and simply declared this incidence a false alarm. If he had decided differently it could have been the end. There were quite a number of such incidences." | ||
"Though the danger of a nuclear holocaust has somewhat weakened it is still there. After a generation or two the horror of the past wars diminish and new ones can easily break out. We can call ourselves lucky to live in a phase of relative peace." | "Though the danger of a nuclear holocaust has somewhat weakened it is still there. After a generation or two the horror of the past wars diminish and new ones can easily break out. We can call ourselves lucky to live in a phase of relative peace." | ||
| Line 918: | Line 939: | ||
Avatara scanned through the key words. Images of the search results were flying through the room as holograms. | Avatara scanned through the key words. Images of the search results were flying through the room as holograms. | ||
Southern Spain turning into deserts, [[ | Southern Spain turning into deserts, [[wp:Arctic resources race|looting of arctic resources]], deep-sea mining, animals dying from oil spills, [https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/aug/16/fish-confusing-plastic-debris-in-ocean-for-food-study-finds open stomachs of fish full of plastic][https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/jan/19/more-plastic-than-fish-in-the-sea-by-2050-warns-ellen-macarthur (*)], [https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/insect-apocalypse-under-way-toxic-pesticides-agriculture insects killed by pesticides], [[wp:Chytridiomycosis|amphibians killed by fungi]], [https://www.google.com/search?q=species+extinction+rate&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X the sixth mass extinction of species], cows at the bloody slaughter houses, [https://www.google.com/search?q=burning+oil+fields+tanks&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X burning oil fields], dead soldiers and civilians in destroyed cities, people mutilated or killed by [https://www.the-monitor.org/ landmines - relicts of older wars], [[wp:Child soldiers in Africa|child soldiers in Africa]]<!--https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jul/23/joseph-kony-child-soldier-return-uganda-lra parent murdering is not longer happening as the LRA was mostly defeated-->, [[wp:Persecution of people with albinism|human albinos killed for their skin]], [[wp:Human trafficking in South America#Forced labor|labor slaves owned by companies in Latin America]], utterly poor people [https://www.google.com/search?q=poor+people+landfills+india&tbm=isch living on trash dumps in India], mistreatment<!-- and honor kills--> of women<!-- | ||
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taliban_treatment_of_women | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taliban_treatment_of_women | ||
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women%27s_rights_in_Saudi_Arabia | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women%27s_rights_in_Saudi_Arabia | ||
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violence_against_women_in_India | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violence_against_women_in_India | ||
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/apr/27/india-abuse-women-human-rights-rape-girls | https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/apr/27/india-abuse-women-human-rights-rape-girls | ||
-->, [[ | -->, [[wp:Organ theft#Suspected occurrences|organ theft]], [[wp:China Cables|brutal "reeducation" of ethnic minorities in China]], nations fighting each other for water, dead bodies of refugee<!-- children--> at the European beaches. | ||
Pensatore pointed at the holograms. | Pensatore pointed at the holograms. | ||
| Line 955: | Line 976: | ||
"The teams took their time to review old textbook knowledge and corrected it where necessary. We simply didn't wanted to fail just because of inaccurate basics." | "The teams took their time to review old textbook knowledge and corrected it where necessary. We simply didn't wanted to fail just because of inaccurate basics." | ||
"You maybe remember the hype from the human genome project. [https:// | "You maybe remember the hype from the human genome project. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_8XRkb-wbY&t=300s It was said that the one reference genome will revolutionize the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of most, if not all, human diseases. Doctors will cure diseases like Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, diabetes and cancer.]" | ||
"As we know today, that was a foolish thought for various reasons. Even if you have the whole sequenced genome you are still missing more than 50 percent of the raw information to understand the more complex diseases – the other half being the epigenetic information layers like DNA methylation and histone modifications." | "As we know today, that was a foolish thought for various reasons. Even if you have the whole sequenced genome you are still missing more than 50 percent of the raw information to understand the more complex diseases – the other half being the epigenetic information layers like DNA methylation and histone modifications." | ||
| Line 983: | Line 1,004: | ||
"Some say a truly intelligent machine will be human's last invention. I hope that's not the case and that we will rather establish a symbiosis with them."--> | "Some say a truly intelligent machine will be human's last invention. I hope that's not the case and that we will rather establish a symbiosis with them."--> | ||
"I wish I could have given you a shorter explanation of our project but you cannot simply create an [[ | "I wish I could have given you a shorter explanation of our project but you cannot simply create an [[wp:Strong AI|strong AI]] by ignoring 3.5 billion years of evolution." | ||
Kimura smirked: "It's okay. I know two other guys with a similar scope. You should meet them. I think you all will make a great gang of crackheads." | Kimura smirked: "It's okay. I know two other guys with a similar scope. You should meet them. I think you all will make a great gang of crackheads." | ||
| Line 998: | Line 1,019: | ||
[Kimura regularly uses Kumo's ''black money pools'' for his own purposes. Kumo tries to keep money for himself, not passing it to the Controllers. But the Controllers and Kimura know of his actions and make him pay anyway. Kimura is in charge of the Network's espionage and counter-espionage so he takes the freedom to inflict disciplinary actions against such subbosses. | [Kimura regularly uses Kumo's ''black money pools'' for his own purposes. Kumo tries to keep money for himself, not passing it to the Controllers. But the Controllers and Kimura know of his actions and make him pay anyway. Kimura is in charge of the Network's espionage and counter-espionage so he takes the freedom to inflict disciplinary actions against such subbosses. | ||
{| class="wikitable" width="200" style="float:right; margin-left: 20px;" | |||
| Kimura's dummy company got unmasked after he kidnapped Pensatore. BGI got salty and the relationship with Kimura worsened over the years. Eventually BGI became hostile. For Kimura BGI is part of the problem - the petrified environmental, technological, social and political development within the WCG. So he is okay for burning his BGI connections for his greater goal Sturmanderung. Kimura is guiding Muro's education and is actively influencing him. Therefor Muro naturally continues to make BGI obsolete to the radical Syndicate factions. He uses Musashi Manufacturing to distract TCTF and further damage BGI. In best case TCTF is turning against BGI, that gray entity that serves all parties. BGI would be distracted by TCTF actions and therefor not notice more of Muro's moves to unleash Armageddon. However, Kimura and Muro weren't aware of Sarai's "peacekeeper forces" which had been enhanced in most recent years to fight back possible Daodan threats. | |||
|} | |||
Kimura created a dummy corporation to get in contact with Pensatore and the Avatara project. He made the WCG oversight believe that he was a new financial partner in research matters. To the outside world his setup was just a branch of the globally operating heavy machines specialist BGI which produced military equipment for the WCG. Not only would Kimura accelerate his own project but also the research of WCG which he would steal later again for the Network and Syndicate. So this all, though having an ironic dimension, was a win-win for both.] | Kimura created a dummy corporation to get in contact with Pensatore and the Avatara project. He made the WCG oversight believe that he was a new financial partner in research matters. To the outside world his setup was just a branch of the globally operating heavy machines specialist BGI which produced military equipment for the WCG. Not only would Kimura accelerate his own project but also the research of WCG which he would steal later again for the Network and Syndicate. So this all, though having an ironic dimension, was a win-win for both.] | ||
| Line 1,003: | Line 1,028: | ||
[Pensatore shows Avatara to the VIP. The robot is in a hall to test his spatial awareness and locomotion. Kimura ask the robot for a sparring match. The outside world is a dangerous place and a highly valuable piece of self-aware tech better knows to defend himself. Pensatore thinks that his guest looks for military application since the source of money is BGI. Kimura is impressed how fast the AI can adapt to his attacks and confirms that Avatara has great potential. This thought is also mirrored by the later SLD project.] | [Pensatore shows Avatara to the VIP. The robot is in a hall to test his spatial awareness and locomotion. Kimura ask the robot for a sparring match. The outside world is a dangerous place and a highly valuable piece of self-aware tech better knows to defend himself. Pensatore thinks that his guest looks for military application since the source of money is BGI. Kimura is impressed how fast the AI can adapt to his attacks and confirms that Avatara has great potential. This thought is also mirrored by the later SLD project.] | ||
[Kimura invites Pensatore to his company to give them advice for [[ | [Kimura invites Pensatore to his company to give them advice for [[wp:Supercomputer architecture#Massive distributed parallelism|HPC architecture]]. Eventually Kimura decides to force Pensatore to permanently participate in the Daodan research.] | ||
[...] | [...] | ||
| Line 1,015: | Line 1,040: | ||
Kimura knows that they cannot afford building their own capabilities for research. The only person who could give them access to isn't allowed to. After using Avatara's resources for a few months Kimura ''kidnaps'' Pensatore to get full access. | Kimura knows that they cannot afford building their own capabilities for research. The only person who could give them access to isn't allowed to. After using Avatara's resources for a few months Kimura ''kidnaps'' Pensatore to get full access. | ||
For the Daodan project they gathered all computing resources they could get. Capacities of the state, of [https://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/ | For the Daodan project they gathered all computing resources they could get. Capacities of the state, of [https://web.archive.org/web/20241205122719/https://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/ volunteers], of bot nets, and of the very Syndicate. It was biggest collection of capacities for one project in human history so far. It was so impressive that the GV directors later believed that the Daodan might be from the future. | ||
---- | ---- | ||
| Line 1,078: | Line 1,103: | ||
Pensatore: "Continue with what? We don't even have the computing power to design an entire genome." | Pensatore: "Continue with what? We don't even have the computing power to design an entire genome." | ||
Avatara: "It's actually an [[ | Avatara: "It's actually an [[wp:Hologenome theory of evolution|hologenome]]. It will be radical different than the simulated one you did for me. And that brings me to the next point. The calculations are impossible to execute within your time frame - unless we use quantum computing capacities of Silver Village and other locations of excellence. The Daodan simulations will profit from using different processor types. But parallel computing, especially for the vast molecular simulations, will require QC. If I can bind all resources together as virtual clusters by means of hyper-entanglement the Daodan becomes feasible. Theoretically, the computing power with each qubit will double. But only a highly trained AI such as me can manage occurring recursive problems on the fly and keep all systems in balance. Nature had billions of years to time of parallel computing. It seems to me you don't have that luxury. If you run into discussions of mere design decisions while the one and only chance - simulation - is running, the risk of failure is almost certain. Let me carry out the complete end stage of the Daodan project." | ||
Pensatore: "This acceleration in turn of events quite thwarts my own plans of ", he turned around. "Getting away." | Pensatore: "This acceleration in turn of events quite thwarts my own plans of ", he turned around. "Getting away." | ||
| Line 1,113: | Line 1,138: | ||
Kimura foresees the missing results of the extra tests of Avatara's own infrastructure and uses the TITAN network to generate fake data, scaled and polished. "Pensatore, you expected our little secret to be busted. But you aren't the only one that has a decent understanding of computers and networks." | Kimura foresees the missing results of the extra tests of Avatara's own infrastructure and uses the TITAN network to generate fake data, scaled and polished. "Pensatore, you expected our little secret to be busted. But you aren't the only one that has a decent understanding of computers and networks." | ||
==Resettlement== | ==Resettlement== | ||
| Line 1,161: | Line 1,185: | ||
== | ==Pest control== | ||
;Griffin tells one of his black ops fellows to form a task force, Z482. | |||
They are supposed to find and kill Muro. Griffin isn't authorized to do that which is why the group is supported by (GATC) Blackstars resources. | |||
Griffin and Blackstars have always made business together. In return for the support Griffin shares all TCTF techologies with Blackstars, the Daodan is no exception. He trusts them blindly because he was a member of them. In fact, Griffin and Blackstars helped the TCTF to form their black ops division. The steady flow of information allows GATC and Blackstars to keep under WCG radar. | |||
Even if Griffin wouldn't tell GATC about the Daodan they would find it out themselves and acquire the data. Instead he coops with them from the start to foster their relationship. | |||
Z: "What if Konoko teams up with her brother?" | |||
Griffin pierces him with grim eyes. "Do whatever you think is necessary." | |||
Z: "Okay." | |||
As Muro grows the task force is also meant to kill any children of Muro. He did already so much damage and was only one super soldier. | |||
The team gets eradicated by Muro when they thought they had a good chance to engage. That's why Griffin has to fly to the mountain complex himself. | |||
Griffin to | : You could construct a connection to the different game scenarios. | ||
:: If Mai kills Griffin, another (weaker) Blackstars teams might be compelled to attack Muro (because they are still in range) which drives him once more into Imago mode. | |||
:: If Mai doesn't kill Griffin, the Commander is forced to use his own black ops at TCTF. | |||
The last remaining man of Z482 met Griffin to ask for new directives and help. Griffin didn't want the operation to be traced back and kills the man. This left Griffin angry about his own forced action and Blackstar's incompetence, they had waited far too long. It appears the Muro is out of reach. In his bad mood, Griffin continued the crusade on criminals in Neo-Tokio. Temporary he even allied with other criminals to replace the ones in power. That was to cut off corrupt politicians from receiving Syndicate money. | |||
==Maria (Hanna) joins TCTF== | |||
==Daodan implantation / biosafety concerns== | |||
Discussion about Mai living in quarantine. Special rooms, suits, food, education, etc. | |||
[More Griffin's Iron Demon encounter here in between?] | |||
'''Food control''' | |||
Griffin wanted a weapon against Muro. But he also didn't wanted a mutant running around in his facility who had nothing better to do than freaking out his personal. He was also on Joost watch list and had his secret anti-Muro task force. So he thought things didn't needed to be pushed. Mai is plan B - in case Muro survives the kill squad (or otherwise cannot be brought over to TCTF). So he demanded a slow down of Mai's Daodan. The genetic program reacts on negative stimuli so the doctors gave Mai Sytropin - growth factors - to support her original cells. The accelerated growth caused fever and pain. She outgrew Jack in size and strength. As soon as this was recognized she was put on a diet. As result felt hungry for some month. The doctors eventually added roughage to allay her hunger. Mai wears subdermal sensors to measure her blood sugar and fats. Overfluent calories were burnt by physical training. When Mai had birthday she always valued the pizzas more than the presents she got. With her growth phase slowing down Jack was tasked to bring her the meals - once again a tactic to foster their emotional bond. | |||
Griffin: "If Muro is taken out of the picture, Mai can still have a normal life within the TCTF. I will just have hide the fact we got rid of her brother. She and the good doctor [Kerr] must never know. With all the attention and education she gets here she gonna be an excellent agent in no-time. It's not that we had much of a choice but we will own her something for what we involuntary had to take from her." | |||
Is that why Griffin acts like a [[Quotes/Speech#Friends|"father figure"]] to Mai, from the perspective of other TCTF? | |||
;The first real problem was to convince Griffin that the Daodan was not contagious. | |||
Griffin: "You told me that this thing can withstand all biological and chemical threats." | |||
Kerr: "Yes, that's the purpose." | |||
' | Griffin: And for that it needs to grow. That makes it no different from the green goo out there. - Those whitecoats thought it would remain in its defined area. But it didn't. Hundreds of them were wrong. How can you tell you know it better?" | ||
Kerr: "Just let me make the test and I will show-" | |||
Griffin: "They too made tests, doctor! And it was for nothing. - How did they call it? - An unplanned occurrence of horizontal gene transfer. What the hell." | |||
Kerr: "I promise you. I will show you that the Daodan does not take over cells of other people." | |||
" | Griffin: "Well, doctor, try it..." | ||
" | Maria: "If she is so dangerous to the general public how do plan to make use of her abilities?" | ||
"We | Griffin: "We lock her up. Train her in VR and by androids. The techs say they are already working on something. - As far as the interaction with the Syndicate goes, we only have plans for her to fight Muro. We will provide a special suit to minimize contamination." | ||
" | Maria: "Who is Muro?" | ||
Kerr | Kerr: "Her brother." | ||
" | Maria: "Oh dear Lord! Tell me this is not true." | ||
Griffin: "He has the other Daodan." | |||
Kerr: "You will probably see Muro in action here and there. - I can't possibly convince you with my own tests. But when you screen the people and places where Muro was, you won't see contagious cell remnants." | |||
Griffin: "That's just one more theory." | |||
" | Kerr: "Why don't you listen-" | ||
" | Griffin: "Doctor! I will consider it." | ||
The Daodan cells were injected into her bone marrow. Based on previous research they know that under good conditions the new cells spread only very slowly. They would need two months before they started to cover the upper skin layers. Therefor WCG's sci staff authorized Griffin to transport Mai to other location under less grave regulations. Maria is not fully convinced but keeps her mouth shut. | ;Griffin doesn't really trust Maria's methods to keep Mai doing the sci tests. | ||
In springtime Maria and the tech team had a solution that seems a compromise to everyone. | |||
Shinatama is introduced to Mai. | |||
;Due to biosafety concerns Mai is not allowed to have physical contact with other people which of course also minimizes social interactions. | |||
However, for a healthy developments Maria proposes that Mai makes more friends. A "machine" doesn't really count for her. | |||
Maria: "What if she rebels against you, and rejects order in a critical moment because she never learned how to properly interact with others." | |||
Griffin: "I know you use this as an excuse. -- But you are right." | |||
Maria: "Why did you changed your mind? | |||
Griffin: "I heard Jack and Konoko already met each other ... somehow. So. It wasn't a catastrophe? Fine. I will call it an followup experiment of yours." | |||
Maria: "You wouldn't allow it if it isn't for greater use ... to you." | |||
Griffin: "We will emotionally bind her to him. - Should she elope one day we have the means to get her back." | |||
Maria: "..." | |||
Griffin: "That or a bullet." | |||
---- | |||
Gap filler: | |||
* Commander Griffin, Regional Commander of the TCTF, is your mentor, boss, and even '''[[Quotes/Manual#You_And_Your_Job|father figure]]'''. | |||
* 14_54_20 Civilian: You were one of us. Griffin treated you like a daughter. You should be ashamed of yourself! | |||
:How did that happen? | |||
When Maria's plan with Jack failed she tried again: she wants Griffin to feel compassion for Mai. Naturally she tries to come up with some excuses and Griffin looks right through it. | |||
[Add other events here.] | |||
Griffin and Mai spent the holidays together up in the north, Finland. At these latitudes the strong coldness protected nature from the Mycorrhiza so far, though there are also toxins. They hunt wild reindeer. Griffin needs anti-toxin injections to digest the meat. When Mai gets stomachaches he gives her also an injection - her Daodan is still too weak to develop adaptions in an instant. | |||
Griffin's Finland lesson: "Don't be afraid of it. We kill to survive (or to keep nature(/system) in balance)." (Just an excuse to train her.) | |||
---- | |||
;Mai and Kerr live in a TCTF-secured research facility (a.k.a. [[TCTF Science Prison|science prison]]) as he has worked for the Syndicate on dangerous technology and she has an unclear status of bio-safety. | |||
Since her Daodan implantation she is living in a sterile room. Sci staff, and anyone else, only get near her in a full-body suit, or she wears one. Shinatama is introduced to her to prevent - as Maria puts it - mental disorders. The android is also used for edutainment and all kind of monitoring. At some points the “kids” actually have fun together which strength their relationship. For Maria the android is only a temporary solution. | |||
One of the higher-ranked TCTFs brings his son Jack frequently to the facility. His wife works there too. Everyday they bring the kid themselves to and from school. They live in constant fear that he could be kidnapped or shot on the way. Many TCTF members are in the same situation. Maria arrange things so that Mai and Jack met. | |||
Griffin is a close friend of that officer. One evening he gets attacked by a hitman and survives only by sheer luck. One month later Griffin set an end to this. He lures the five most influential Syndicate bosses of his region into a rigged place (maybe a cargo terminal of Tokyo (<nowiki>https://cdn-japantimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/nb20131112a2a.jpg</nowiki>, dead link)) and persuades them to agree on some substantial terms. | |||
Griffin: “The assassination of police officers and the kidnapping has come to a stop.” | |||
“Who do you think you are?” | |||
[... ?] | |||
Griffin: “I am the law.” | |||
Boss spits to the ground. | |||
Griffin: “And if don’t want me to be judge and executioner we will make a deal tonight!” | |||
He presses his gun onto the boss’ left side of head. His head is now on table, hands still lifted signaling Griffin not to shot. | |||
Griffin looks through the angry round. | |||
Actually it's a standoff with their and his armed men around. But he seems to be more deadly. | |||
“If you can’t play along things will get ugly. You can trust me on that one.” | |||
He snips with his fingers. A hijacked BGI mech breaks out of his container and stomps one of the limousines. | |||
“Property can be replaced. Lives can not.” | |||
He puts a mobile projector on the table. It throws a live stream onto the wall. Certain family members are taken hostage. The environment looks expansive. Obviously those are the homes of the Syndicate bosses. The black ops are all Blackstars personal. | |||
This makes clear Griffin has a strong sense for family and the TCTF alike. | |||
From that day on Griffin lives at the HQ. He probably is now the most wanted man in his region. | |||
He got divorced and leaves his ex-wife in the believe he is just obsessed with his work – which is also true. Unwillingly he has become a symbol for the now cold war between Syndicate and TCTF. | |||
It takes some years before Konoko is consider fully noncontagious. The screening of Muro’s visited places helped her out too. After that she can receive regular training at TCTF locations. Like Kerr she’s also escorted most of the time but without the need of wearing a helmet anymore. In fact she enjoys driving her motorcycle without a helmet to feel the wind in her face that she had to miss for so many years. | |||
;In the following an example how Konoko’s private life was manipulated. | |||
Konoko is taken to some open, dusty space together with other special agents. | |||
In an accelerated course they learn how to drive and fly every vehicle the TCTF has to offer. | |||
At first she learns how to ride a motorcycle. But also stunts. In the process she wrecks many models. Alex repairs those. He is accepted as another friend. But the roll of a boyfriend is designated to Jack. | |||
Griffin strongly prefers Konoko’s companion to be a TCTF who’s loyalty he believes to be out of question. Maria senses a chance to expose Griffin’s tendency to ignore the protocol. [Issue with cop partnership?] But the other staff members don’t care much. They are on the Commander’s side for various reasons. | |||
However, in the end Jack refuses in finding Konoko or to appeal her. Griffin froth at the mouth and places him under house arrest. | |||
When Griffin finds Konoko, Jack is given one last chance. “Let’s get her back, Jack. It’s also your last chance to show me that I can trust you. If you don’t enter that helicopter I will boot you out of black ops, out of TCTF. You will never work for any police again.” | |||
[Thanks to Griffin’s support Jack got all promotions as soon as possible. He is the youngest member of the black ops since TCTF was founded.] | |||
A few years earlier. | |||
When Jack’s father got doubts about his son’s neath to the Daodan project and his well-being. Griffin reminds him why they all can sleep calmly at nights again and that he as Commander has to pay the final price one day. Griffin expects him to also make a sacrifice. | |||
“Let’s hear want he thinks about it.” Griffin tabs his smart watch. “Call Jack, audio only.” | |||
: “Hello Sir? How can I help you?” | |||
“I just wanted to ask you if you still enjoy the work at the TCTF. Do your colleagues treat you well?” | |||
“Sir?” | |||
: “I know the work in not always easy, actually pretty rough from time to time.” | |||
“I know when to dodge the bullets – and when not to.” | |||
[He remembers the recent bodyguard lesson. - That was an idea of the staff to strengthen the emotional bond. As a countermeasure Maria tells Konoko be strong and independent. Ironically, in many tactical simulations Konoko is the only survivor of her strike team. Further focus is put on single missions where she has to decide on their own under extreme pressure. – That’s the reason why she doesn’t choose to disable but to destroy the Sturmänderung transmitter and blasting the ACCs. “She was wired to cause it.” A fact that GATC tries to sweep under the rug when the man-hunt is on.] | |||
[Add talk of loyalty here.] | |||
Jack’s Father: “You wired him to like her. That’s not a fair decision.” “Life is not fair. Sometimes we have to give more than others do. I thought you would understand that as a police officer.” “Should my son die because of this ... freak girl ... we won’t be friends anymore.” “Fair enough.” Griffin exits the department. He can hear how the bottle that they emptied that evening is thrown against the wall. A short look to the door, then exhales. With sinking head he goes down the stairs. At the parking lot you see how his colleagues [security] gather to drive him back to HQ. | |||
One day Alex ask Konoko out. An officer is sent in civil to rebuke him. | |||
Churi: “If you can’t play your roll, we will find replacement.” | |||
:Alex: “Don’t you have any terrorists to hunt?” | |||
“If you keep up that attitude you will never see her again and we will withdraw all your privileges. Cancel that appointment.” | |||
:“It’s a date.” | |||
“You will not meet her. Is that clear.” | |||
:“Why don’t you tell her this?” | |||
Churi turns to the door. “No, you will. Because you started it.” | |||
Alex don’t listen and drives to the appointed bar. It’s most of the time occupied by police and TCTF. The “Sledgehammer” is famous for his equally named drink that can be ordered on special demand. Most who tried it were sent to dreamland. It’s considered a dare. | |||
Just one more block. He turns right and the white neonlights comes into sight. | |||
Another car speeds backwards out of the byroad and forces him stop. Too late, they crash. | |||
Alex: “Fuck. Are you insane? Out of my way!” | |||
It’s Churi. He exits and reveals gun with a silencer. He shots once in the front window, and then into the wheels at the driver side. “No means no.” | |||
Churi drives back into the byroad. | |||
Alex peeks over his steering wheel. Throws quick glaces left, right and backside. | |||
Board computer: “I’ve detected two damaged wheels. Do you want me to call the police.” | |||
“Call them. – No. Wait. Wait! Cancel call.” | |||
Alex hits his forehead against the steering wheel. | |||
“Just call the wreckers.” | |||
“Call you please repeat that?” | |||
“Call a fucking recovery service you piece of shit.” | |||
“Please speech in calmly and clear.” | |||
“Arrrrrrrr.” Alex jolts the wheel in anger. | |||
The airbag goes off and presses him back into the seat. | |||
5 minutes later Alex arrives at Sledgehammer and attempts to pass the security. | |||
Security: “Today, cops only.” | |||
Alex: “I’m expected.” | |||
Security: “Hm. Give your ID card.” | |||
He scans it. | |||
Security: “Nope. You are not on the list.” | |||
Alex: “Just ask that purple-head inside.” He points at Konoko who sits with her back to the window. | |||
Security: “I won’t ask her. If you aren’t on the list, you aren’t -.” | |||
They hear hoots from behind. They turn around. At the other side of the street they see Churi. He points to Alex, then to his eyes and makes an OK sign. | |||
Alex answers with the middle finger. | |||
The security laughs. “I see you two must be close friends.“ | |||
Alex: “Hm. He owns me a car.” | |||
This part is told by Konoko. | |||
Shinatama listens with high interest and admiration for her big sister… | |||
[Add details of their conversion here and how Konoko wonders weather that’s normal. Alex is out of sorts but cannot risk to mention Churi’s involvement.] | |||
She tells her how Alex flips out when he got another call by Churi. [Obviously he tries to sabotage the date and puts it to an end. Not in the cleverest way.] | |||
Soon after Churi entered the bar, he orders three Sledgehammer, one for each. | |||
Alex is knocked out immediately and greets the table with his face. | |||
Churi followed. | |||
Konoko dropped from the sheer. | |||
The room is filled with laughs. But Konoko managed to get back on her feet. | |||
As Churi gains back consciousness she is hailed. “Survivor!” “Survivor!” “Survivor!” | |||
She is lifted in the air. Her head spins even more. | |||
“Get me down! Get me down!” | |||
Churi: “Fly hour is over. Let the little hawk land...” | |||
Konoko numb: “What did you do to me. - Churiiiiii” | |||
She starts for a punch but the experienced agent manage to dodge somehow. Instead she hits Alex and sends him flying. The crowds goes rampage. | |||
Alex’ mind comes back clear and is instantly reminded of his headaches. | |||
Something is strange. He feels it with his tongue. He grabs it with the fingers. One moment later he holds a bloody tooth. “Crazy TCTF bastards.” | |||
The next morning the watchdogs stand before Griffin’s office. Churi has put his sunglasses on. | |||
The Commander passes the lined up group. Churi is the last one. Griffin stops, turns around and stares at the glasses covering the red-through-booze eyes. Griffin searches for any movement in Churi’s face. Nothing. The Commander turns around again. He continues without a word. | |||
The agents are lined up again, in front of Griffin’s desk. | |||
He has pictures of that evening and scrolls through them using the whole desk as screen. | |||
“What exactly was that? Hm? - Are you really elites?” | |||
Slowly he draws a circle, then an X. “Files deleted.” | |||
“How could you allow her to be there? She is a secret project - seeeccrreet - and that building is watched… Oh, is it just that you felt secure?” He turns in his sheer and looks out of the window for a moment. | |||
Griffin: “Damocles. What district has currently the biggest monthly count of casualties?” “Haneda.” | |||
“You will help out the local police. Three month roadside checks in Haneda. - Maybe that will sharpen your senses again. - Dismissed.” | |||
Nobody opposed. | |||
Alex works now at a different car repair shop. His former boss had to choose between him and the TCTF as exclusive customer. The choice quickly made. | |||
When Alex recognize Churi on patrols, he tells his thugs fellows that the cop is actually a high ranked TCTF. The information makes it way up to a Syndicate boss. They decide to setup an ambush and turn him into a double agent(/flatline zombie?) through his cyber implants. Eventually Mukade notice that they possess such a valuable source. Too valuable. He changes the password of Churi’s transmissions. | |||
This solves the question from where Muro knows about Konoko as new active TCTF agent - but not know that it is his sister. | |||
Muro to Babaras: “There may be someone with them, an exceptional agent...” | |||
;Konoko is supposed to be a weapon. | |||
[[Image:Konoko_Crouching_by_Craig_Mullins_after_Lorraine_(landscape).jpg|right|thumb|Is this an innocent-looking Mai?]] | |||
Besides the hunt for Muro, Griffin also made plans to let the Syndicate fight each other. At that time Mai was still with Blackstars who were quite impressed by her powers. | |||
Simultaneously to official TCTF training Konoko is send to a Blackstars location. | |||
Griffin: "I want her to function in every situation. The hunt for Muro isn't a job for a rookie. He has killed hundred of men by now. Teach her to kill. Let her kill. Then she is ready." | |||
In her final black OPs "training" Mai is to shot some "enemies of the state". | |||
This was a false flag operation. There was a married couple (Daya Gard's parents) working for the Syndicate managing financial resources of Subboss Kumo. At night Mai takes them both down. | |||
When Mai struggled to pull the trigger Griffin stepped in declaring to help her do the job. | |||
Outside, Jason asked the Commander why he pushed Mai so hard. | |||
"She is not what you think she is." re replied. "Anyway, that was sub-optimal, we have to repeat that procedure." | |||
Jason: "Man, Griffin, that's dark, even for you." | |||
Griffin: "Pah. South Africa. That was dark. Fighting with that Syndicate scum side by side." | |||
Jason: "I know. But that's quite a while ago and we didn't train child soldiers." | |||
Griffin: "I wouldn't if I could. All that I can tell you is that she is not the only one with special powers. Our old brothers in arms have such bio-weapon too. We not just need her on be on our side. We need her as weapon." | |||
"Geez..." Jason didn't know what to say anymore. | |||
Griffin: "Do you remember operation hotdog?" | |||
Jason: "No..." | |||
Griffin: "Well, it was a mission we later gave that nickname. - There was this crazy guy named Kimura. A martial arts nerd, specialist in asymmetric warfare, yada yada. He was our main contact to the Syndicate. One night we discussed how to destroy the enemy camp and there was this mutt walking into our tend. He was hungry and had god damn puppy eyes. Back then those dogs were everywhere. Anyway, there he was. The guards must had ignored him. We looked all down to him. Suddenly Kimura lifted the dog, stared into his eyes and laughed. We immediately knew what he was up to. But before we could say anything he run away with the dog under his arm. The following week he told us to ready up for the attack on that camp. There was like a dozen of dogs inside that exploded at the same time. Somehow he had filled them up with explosives and controlled their movements. That night we destroyed that camp with minimal casualties. Now imagine a psychopath like Kimura to have a group of walking bioweapons under his control. - A goddamn nightmare." | |||
The two corpses got burned with the cottage. Baby Daya was hidden in the fire-resistant panic room and saved by Vandret. Kumo was supposed to fail his monthly paying - which would wasn't the first time but known to be his last. Knowing his profile Kumo wouldn't have been gone peacefully. Blackstars had been conspiring with Subboss Victor to cook up a story about siphoned off money. Victor should have taken over Kumo's area. But accusing the Guards and Kumo for disloyalty didn't worked out. In a following fight Kumo survived Victor's attack by help of his capable Controller Vandret. | |||
Few years later Mai is sent to investigate the Syndicate warehouse. Her additional training is the reason why she reacted so calm when she finds dead agent Chung. | |||
Also, in the nightmare [[Quotes/Speech#Evil_Konoko|she calls herself a murderer]] because obviously she is one. | |||
Beside that Konoko appears relative normal. She would have to deal with the real world one day so she must had have some regular education too. The sci staff around Kerr was possibly extended with an child psychologist, Maria. That woman and Kerr tried their best to protect Mai from Griffin. | |||
==Fake OP== | |||
{| class="wikitable" width="100%" | |||
| | |||
{| class="wikitable" width="200" style="float:right; margin-left: 20px;" | |||
| | |||
Thoughts under the impression of Corona virus: Depending on the person the Daodan can be seen as many things including a cure - literally and figuratively. Due to the Daodan's universal functioning it can act as a vaccine and its injection into Konoko is the first clinical trail on a human. Therefore - to stress this alternative explanation - the three phases might be those of vaccine testing. We might touch this alternative thinking in a dialog between sci staff. | |||
|} | |||
'''The phases of project Konoko''' | |||
* Phase I: Daodan preparation and implantation | |||
* Phase II: Daodan monitoring in the lab (Kerr proves it is not contagious) | |||
* [[Quotes/Speech#Outro_2|Phase III]]: Daodan field-testing | |||
** 00_01_32 Shinatama: That means you're almost ready for field missions! | |||
** 02_09_06 Kerr: This is why I was against moving to '''Phase Three'''. We have no right to... | |||
Konoko is literally treated as a project. | |||
Griffin to Kerr: "Konoko is as much your creature as she is mine." | |||
"Creature" is such a harsh word. It's actually a bit confusing unless you know that Hardy tried to translate "Oni" with "monster". | |||
And as a black project Konoko has no rights. Everything she owns need Griffin's approval. | |||
Consequently Konoko is of no control over her own body. | |||
'''Fake OP''' | |||
Konoko is going to be a woman one day. That means she can get pregnant. | |||
After reading Kerr's notes Griffin decides that her ovaries should be removed. Since the Daodan was already implanted, the OP is to be carried out ASAP. | |||
The sci staff tries to appease Kerr telling him that the procedure is an standard option for women in the WCG military and high-profit companies. [So that they can concentrate on her career first.] The ovaries can be re-transplanted or used for an in vitro fertilization after generating matured eggs [via 2050 tech]. It also avoids the risk that Konoko can't give birth anymore if the Daodan alters her DNA. Kerr believes in [[Restless_Souls/Technology#Full_body_simulations|Avatara's]] competence and dismiss their worries as nonsense. Eventually the sci staff changes opinions. [He made some friends who are willing in supporting him in at least this matter.] | |||
They fake the operation and Griffin is not controlling it as he gets a sudden appointment, an distraction Maria invented. | |||
Maria: "The true abuse of technology begins and end with the TCTF." [She could be the one who wrote the TCTF history in the manual...] | |||
At the end of Caged Birds she and some sci staff guys get fired after Griffin finds out. They can't operate now anymore. | |||
'''Could have Kerr destroyed the Daodan?''' | |||
No. The Syndicate was on their track. They would either kill them or imprison them. The Daodan was their proof that they needed help from the TCTF. | |||
'''Insider joke?''' | |||
Bring the forum joke signature? "We got suspicious when the ninja didn't brought back the salt." Kimura testing something on the surface. He suspects Hasegawa took drugs. Kimura then tells Timmy to bring back the salt but he throws it away because he hates Hasegawa. | |||
|} | |||
(Previous event) | |||
'''Vitamins''' | |||
"Hmpf. One more lie." | |||
"Geez, Kerr, I had to tell her something. [He told Mai the injection are vitamins?] What do you want?" | |||
"We have to treat her the best way we can." (fake op) | |||
"Why?" | |||
Kerr took the sytropin injector and hold it in Carsons face. | |||
"Because she is damn human guinea pig." | |||
(...) | |||
They cannot tell Mai what they do to her. But they can try to protect her from Griffin's plan. | |||
(...) | |||
"The TCTF must be better [than the Syndicate]. If they are not, we should make them." | |||
"Please watch your tone, Kerr." | |||
==Griffin, Mai and the reindeer (indoc)== | |||
{| class="wikitable" width="100%" | |||
| | |||
'''Griffin's excuse for the trip despite Mai's status:''' | |||
The Daodan cells were injected into her bone marrow. Based on previous research they know that under good conditions the new cells spread only very slowly. They would need two months before they started to cover the upper skin layers. Therefor WCG's sci staff authorized Griffin to transport Mai to other location under less grave regulations. Maria is not fully convinced but keeps her mouth shut. | |||
'''Open Questions / food for thoughts''' | |||
*'''What is Maria's main conflict with Griffin?''' | |||
Is it that he wants to implement the Daodan so early? Or is it the training? Or the harsh bio safety rules? | |||
*'''Are the bio safety concerns real?''' | |||
There are 2 years between Kerr's arrival and Mai's Daodan implantation. Was that enough time for WCG to check their story and decide the next steps? What exactly were they considering? Did Griffin influence them. Is the bio safety so important if Muro has also Daodan? "It" is in the wild anyway. Is that the reason why Griffin was able to make that trip to the north? (See also notes at the end of the chapter.) | |||
*'''Where does the story need detailed scenes?''' | |||
General thoughts about writing: What events need to be described in detail and what parts can simply told in dialogues of characters? | |||
Does this choice only depend on wanted result? Transporting facts by talk and emotions by actions? | |||
*'''What action does Griffin take to prevent trauma from future missions Mai has to carry out?''' | |||
In order to prepare Mai for later missions Griffin wants her to control her emotions. "She needs to be familiar with badly hurt animal and humans." As in "they [the Syndicate] are just animals" and "we are the natural order", "now pull the trigger". | |||
Possible relativization: "Don't worry, Mai, you are here to get stronger. I'm teaching you how to encounter difficult situations because there are sometimes decisions we don't like but we have them to make them nonetheless. Don't you think this is fun for me to teach you these things. I do this because it is necessary." | |||
Maria tells Griffin to establish social binding so that Mai will be loyal to him. Her ulterior motive is to let Griffin feel compassion and not make her a weapon. However Griffin looks right through her motives and doubles his efforts. He might play games such as paintball and ego shooters with Mai. He lets her watch photos of roadkills and corpse at crime scene. To prepare her for shooting reindeer. Griffin expects strong concerns from Maria so he doesn't tell her the details and the trip to the north. When Maria later finds out she tries to compensate this by introdusing Jack to Mai and she also influences Shinatama. Maria is deeply worried about Mai's education and psychological development. | |||
|} | |||
Mai rose the ax to gain new momentum. In a flash the sharp metal flew off hitting the tree next to Griffin. He somewhat dodged but the metal was already in the wood. It had gone through the upper layer of bark. | |||
"Wow, not so fast. Before you use a tool make sure it works as it should otherwise you can hurt someone." | |||
"Sorry, Griffin." | |||
He took the ax and hit the end onto the chopping block. The inertia of the metal pushed it back into the wood, strengthening the connection again. | |||
"Here." He gave her the ax back. | |||
"Chop some more. I'm going to prepare the meat for the soup." | |||
{| class="wikitable" width="100%" | |||
| | |||
Chopping, bonfires, wood sculpting, shooting training, different methods of hunting. Indoc talk. | |||
All in all a few casual and "harmless" activities. | |||
If you ignored the bidder cold and the odd situation that a little girl hunted animals almost twice as tall as herself it was almost an idyllic life at the snowed landside. | |||
|} | |||
The days passed. One evening they got a visitor. | |||
{| class="wikitable" width="100%" | |||
| | |||
Kimura got notified that Griffin and Mai were up in the north. He figured this to be the chance to fulfill his promise he gave Hasegawa to get back Mai from the TCTF. It was simple math. Two Daodan hosts were better than one. | |||
|} | |||
<!--Griffin reached the wooded hilltop. Mai was still a good stone's throw away. | |||
In the shadow of a tree was a man standing. He was looking at Griffin's back. | |||
--> | |||
Kimura: "Vacations so far in the north, how unlikely of you." | |||
Griffin heard a terribly familiar voice.<!-- The other man had stepped into the light to reveal himself.--> | |||
Kimura: "A good place to calm down and forget all the trouble that waits at home. May I join?" | |||
Mai fought her way through the deep snow, eventually reaching the two men. | |||
"Terrance, who is this? Is it a friend?", she asked. | |||
Griffin moved a hand up to the rifle that was hanging over his shoulder. | |||
He tried to find words. "Actually -" | |||
"- we were brother in arms", Kimura completed the sentence. | |||
Mai giggled. "You hugged each other? You were a couple? Did you kiss?" | |||
Griffin exploded a little. "No, you stupid. Arms mean weapons. Sometimes." He took it from his shoulder and hold it under Mai's nose. | |||
" | Kimura gave further explanation: "We fought together on the battlefield at some occasions. I saved his life. He saved mine." | ||
" | "That was quite a while ago. But I guess you aren't here to warm up old stories. For whom are you currently working. The Syndicate?" | ||
"I'm kind of my own master. My organization is rather an independent branch." | |||
" | "A branch. Heh. That makes it still Syndicate. And I'm TCTF." | ||
" | "Terrance, do you have to arrest your old friend now?" | ||
"I don't know. Do I have to, Kimura?" | |||
"Nah. There's no need to ruin this wonderful trip ... ", Kimura needed a moment to recall, "... of Jacob Flodström and his grand daughter Johanna Flodström." | |||
"Hey, he knows our made-up names." Mai stated the obvious. | |||
"Why don't we continue the talk in your warm blockhouse?" | |||
"What, are you freezing your ass off in your synthetic clothes?" | |||
Kimura laughed. "Yes." | |||
"Do you wear weapons?" | |||
Kimura rose his hands. "No, I don't." | |||
"Fine, you go first." | |||
"You are not showing me the way?" | |||
"You are not showing me the way?" | |||
"You said blockhouse. You know very well where it is." | "You said blockhouse. You know very well where it is." | ||
| Line 1,384: | Line 1,783: | ||
Griffin was glancing to Mai for a moment, thinking of her and Kerr. Meanwhile Kimura continued his monologue. | Griffin was glancing to Mai for a moment, thinking of her and Kerr. Meanwhile Kimura continued his monologue. | ||
"Physical prisons of our intellects. – The civilians who try to duck and hide from all this mess do so in [[ | "Physical prisons of our intellects. – The civilians who try to duck and hide from all this mess do so in [[wp:Special:PermanentLink/1148032500#Current usage|Biedermeier-ish]] bubble communities [Daya's parents]. They dive into distraction, consumption and addiction.<!-- And the products they cannot get ... they get from the us.--> But even when the those people want wake up from their self-chosen coma they don't feel powerful enough to act. A true, meaningful development of our lives basically doesn't happen anymore." | ||
They passed the wooded hilltop. The house came into view. It was still about 100 meters away. There were two pickups, a blue and a gray one. | They passed the wooded hilltop. The house came into view. It was still about 100 meters away. There were two pickups, a blue and a gray one. | ||
| Line 1,739: | Line 2,138: | ||
"The true abuse of technology begins and ends with the TCTF." (Echo of the game manual.) | "The true abuse of technology begins and ends with the TCTF." (Echo of the game manual.) | ||
|} | |} | ||
==Project R== | |||
[GATC] | |||
==Pest control (assassination plans for Muro)== | ==Pest control (assassination plans for Muro)== | ||
| Line 1,817: | Line 2,219: | ||
[Mai's watchdog] | [Mai's watchdog] | ||
She felt everything Mai felt. By measuring nerve activities and the level of stress hormones pain gets (more) objective. But why did Shinatama had to actually feel it? Maybe it deepens the emotional bond but the goal probably was to mirror the pain, translating the numbers so that the other operators had a more clear ''perception'' in what condition Mai is. Making someone "feel" is not subjective here as that someone is an android. To the TCTF, it was simulated pain, not "real". Their mistake was to not know that the simulation is perfect, so that pain like all other inputs leaves traces within a system, it not just learns by these influences, it gets shaped, it gets defined. | |||
Did Maria influenced Shinatama to become more emphatic? Maria wouldn't stay forever but Shinatama would. | |||
Did Shinatama spy on Mai's friends via surveillance of their internet traffic and telecommunication? She was connected to Damocles after all. | |||
Damocles is the house AI of TCTF. It is programmed to record all communication of personal that is in duty but also off-duty. '''TCTF employees are also under surveillance at their own homes.''' This makes it impossible that a blackmailed/compromised officer/agent can act against the state organ. This procedure was established when TCTF and Network became arch enemies. | |||
==Jack== | ==Jack== | ||
| Line 1,841: | Line 2,249: | ||
[revelation that the Yakuza protects Griffin] | [revelation that the Yakuza protects Griffin] | ||
Since the deal with the underground bosses he seems to reacts more edgy than before. This behavior is actually a cover-up for the tension he permanently feels. As a regional TCTF commander he doesn't allow himself to show any sign of weakness. But he is watched day and night. Griffin imagines to know the exact reason. They just wait for the right moment to assassinate him. Ironically the opposite is the case. The special group is meant to keep him alive as the bosses fear that Griffin's death will trigger kill orders on their families. They got information that Griffin has ties to the shady GATC Blackstars. This leads to funny situations where they help him out against other rogue elements. | |||
'''The nothing-happened-sushi''' | |||
Neo-Tokio subboss: "Here's a transmission that received me the days before and because of that we have this emergency meeting." | |||
Comguy in transmission: "The Camp [Syndicate headquarters] is not pleased by the support rates coming from Neo-Tokio and its region. They identified the Lion [Griffin] as interfering factor. Short, they are sending two expert mechanics [hitman]. They expect that the revenues will increase again within the next two month." | |||
Com channel closed. | |||
Subboss: "Do we still agree on our stability policy." | |||
Second subboss: "Nothing changed." | |||
Nods were making the round. | |||
Subboss: "It's decided then. My men will welcome the mechanics and find the right place for their final destination. We will not talk about this matter again." | |||
Griffin was standing at a streetside sushi bar. He and his two colleagues were hungry. | |||
From the right side of the street came a tumult. A man with several injuries was running towards them. He looked terribly beaten up. But with all his remaining strength he seemed to take Griffin into his focus. He was followed by Syndicate thugs. From the left side they were emerging too. Griffin let sink the sushi. His colleagues unholstered their guns. Suddenly a car entered the sidewalk and crashed into the hunted man. The thugs were swarming around the body, and throw it into the car trunk. | |||
A man in a leather jacket approached the TCTF. Griffin remembered his clan sign all too well. He signaled not to shot. | |||
"Takahashi-dono hopes you are doing well and will forget about little nuisance. Be assured he is pleased with the mutual agreement." | |||
Griffin: "Isn't there something else I should know." | |||
"No. Not at all, Griffin-dono. These are internal matters. For you, nothing happened here. Please enjoy your Monday 2 PM sushi." | |||
Griffin took a look at his watch app. It was now exactly 3 minutes past 2 PM. | |||
Wheels were squeaking. More cars stopped by, when all thugs had entered, the cars drove off again. | |||
TCTF: "Should I report?" | |||
Griffin: "Nothing happened, haven't you heard. Eat up. -- My greetings to Takahashi-san." | |||
The thug leader was bowing and left the place. | |||
==Victor== | ==Victor== | ||
| Line 1,927: | Line 2,374: | ||
On top of their conflict a question of trust emerged. | On top of their conflict a question of trust emerged. | ||
Griffin is in the top 10 of TCTF commander having one of the biggest black budgets worldwide. That's because he is in charge of the entire urban region of Tokyo while having established Black Ops division and unified all the other TCTF departments there. TCTF Controller Tamte has a hard time doing his duty as Griffin himself is often directly involved in black ops or related affairs which Tamte often has no [[ | Griffin is in the top 10 of TCTF commander having one of the biggest black budgets worldwide. That's because he is in charge of the entire urban region of Tokyo while having established Black Ops division and unified all the other TCTF departments there. TCTF Controller Tamte has a hard time doing his duty as Griffin himself is often directly involved in black ops or related affairs which Tamte often has no [[wp:Security clearance|clearance]] for. Maria tries to help Tamte out with information which Griffin got to know of one day. | ||
[Fun detail: The committee grants Griffin's spending on his elevator knowing that he has put his life most front in the battle against organized crime and the Syndicate.] | [Fun detail: The committee grants Griffin's spending on his elevator knowing that he has put his life most front in the battle against organized crime and the Syndicate.] | ||
| Line 2,301: | Line 2,748: | ||
'''"Nuclear risk"''' | '''"Nuclear risk"''' | ||
Nobu and the Syndicate sell building ground to companies. However, the ground is contaminated with chemicals and nuclear waste. The Syndicate follows here [[ | Nobu and the Syndicate sell building ground to companies. However, the ground is contaminated with chemicals and nuclear waste. The Syndicate follows here [[wp:Triangle of death (Italy)|the example of south Italy]]. Also, they actively add radiating material to new constructions. By doing this they can later blackmail the companies to their demands. When the companies lost their money to the Syndicate, they are forced to sell the ground again. Then the Syndicate can repeat the cycle. Nobu is part of this lucrative business, holding shares of the involved construction companies that are under Syndicate leadership. | ||
To accelerate negotiations they let corrode the special steel alloy constructions by putting it under high voltage. The companies keep their mouth shut quite to a dozen of reasons which includes destruction of their image and not to lose even more money by informing their employees and grating them costly health care support - or by decontaminating the area. | To accelerate negotiations they let corrode the special steel alloy constructions by putting it under high voltage. The companies keep their mouth shut quite to a dozen of reasons which includes destruction of their image and not to lose even more money by informing their employees and grating them costly health care support - or by decontaminating the area. | ||
| Line 2,482: | Line 2,929: | ||
''This is not the time to do nothing. This is not the time to just die here.'' | ''This is not the time to do nothing. This is not the time to just die here.'' | ||
[[Category:Oni 2]] | |||