Talk:Chapters

Summary

The following was recently contributed to Wikipedia by an unidentified fan. As far as I can tell, it's been translated from a non-English version, as quite a few elements (e.g. quotes) are inaccurate.

It's quite good on the whole. Improving it means :

• keeping it light (about the same amount of text per chapter)
• removing inaccuracies and overstatements
• expanding related pages (chapter/character pages) with exhaustive info (ingame material)
• using that info to further improve the synthetic overview here

The goal is an objective and consensual summary of what happened in Oni. Further discussions and interpretations may diverge, but ideally, this short summary shouldn't state anything controversial.

The summary is roughly organized in 14 chapters, one paragraph per chapter. You can do what you want to the paragraphs along the above guidelines. If you do a big modification, please leave a copy of the text you're modifying. You can also contribute remarks, point out mistakes, misquoted material, etc, without actually writing full sentences of an actual summary. Keep the remarks together with their respective paragraph/chapter.

Original

(as on Wikipedia)

Please don't alter the original except for typos and gross grammar mistakes. Add remarks at the end of each section (remarks can be reformulated sentences). Suggest full paragraphs below, chapter by chapter.

In the case different language versions of Oni feature diverging material (e.g. quotes), please point that out (either here or on the subpages of Chapters)

It starts with an assault on laboratories by a criminal organization named simply as The Syndicate; who is being led by a mysterious, yet dangerous man named Muro. Konoko, through her neural link with the TCTF's AI Shinatama (actually known as an SLD, or Simulated Life Doll: an android programmed with Konoko's brain patterns), her connection with Commander Griffin and Dr. Kerr, moves in to investigate. All the while, Commander Griffin and Doctor Kerr are seen arguing over Konoko's situation, cut in from time to time by Shinatama reporting on her bodily functions (adrenaline spikes, likewise).

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Konoko ventures into the warehouse and the mole of TCTF, Chung, is found dead at the scene. Konoko clears out the warehouse, and then is sent to the Manufacturing Lab belonging to the company that used the warehouse previously. Konoko has to stop a deadly AI brain (not surprisingly, also called "Deadly Brain") which can potentially destroy the entire city if reaching full potential, or even dominate the entire digital world. Upon her exit, she is called to a Bioresearch Facility, which is under the attack of The Syndicate. Upon her arrival, Konoko faces Barabas; a hybrid creature (half-cyborg, half human) that is one of the main figures of The Syndicate. Upon Barabas' retreat, Barabas messages to Muro, telling him that "She (Konoko) is too strong.".

---

Muro moves towards the nearest Airport to get himself out of there, with Konoko in hot pursuit. She loses Muro, but manages to land a tracking device on the plane. Muro, while departing, speaks to his henchmen, who inform him that "They do not know of the condition of the Chrysalis".

---

Konoko then returns to her regular life. Shortly after, TCTF Headquarters itself becomes compromised by an excessive attack of The Syndicate. Entering there, Konoko finds out that Barabas has kidnapped Shinatama. Unable to control herself, Konoko first defeats Barabas, and then experiences a strange feeling overtaking her: what the game refers to as a "Daodan Spike".

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Konoko tracks down Shinatama, and despite Griffin's objections, rushes to save her. All the while, Muro is torturing Shinatama to retrieve information in a nearby Atmospheric Conversion Center (a central facility to the recent civilization which filters poisons from the air). While venturing deeper into the facility, Konoko finally finds Shinatama. Shinatama says that she won't live, and in a heart-wrenching scene, reveals that Konoko's real name is Mai Hasegawa, and that she was involved in some sort of project. Griffin, in a desperate attempt to prevent Konoko from getting further with that information, sets the auto-destruct sequence of Shinatama, revealing that the tiny robot was armed with a bomb with enough explosive power to be classified as a small nuclear warhead. Konoko flees, and TCTF starts pursuit.

---

Looking for her origins, Konoko goes to the Regional State Building, and there, is encountered by both TCTF and The Syndicate. She finds a terminal to access to the information, but as she is doing it, Muro's elite ninja, Mukade swipes away the data concerning her. Konoko follows Mukade through the city's rooftops and finally, corners him. Mukade states that they are one and the same; that they should surrender to their essence, and revel in it. Enraged, Konoko kills Mukade and retrieves the disk.

---

Konoko goes back to Dr. Hasegawa's laboratory, wherein she discovers most of her past. Apparently, Dr. Hasegawa was a teacher, and had fallen in love with a student of his, Jamie, who was also an activist who believed that the government was hiding secrets. One day, Jamie and Dr. Hasegawa venture into a forbidden zone of wild life (overgrown plants were covering it), and Jaimie cuts her leg. However, in a matter of moments ("almost immediately", Dr. Hasegawa suggests) the wound gets infected and starts to kill her. Unable to bear seeing her in pain, Dr. Hasegawa shoots Jamie (to "ease her pain"). He has made a discovery through that incident, that the world outside of the atmospheric converters was extremely poisonous and destructive towards human biology. He leaves one note, "I will not let this tragedy happen again. Her brother will help me. He misses her as much as I do." Konoko learns that Jamie's maiden name was Kerr, and that she was Doctor Kerr's sister.

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Konoko walks into the TCTF Science Prison to find Dr. Kerr, who tells her about the solution they developed. They had named it a "Daodan Chrysalis" which was basically a hyper-evolved form of a cancer cell. By implanting a person with the chrysalis, they would let it adapt to the biology which contained it, and grow as the host suffered damage, or experienced negative emotions (Which are met with hormonal spikes). However, further than that, over a duration of time, the chrysalis would start to grow the host as well, replacing the organs of the host with its own extensions. As Konoko asks about her past, Dr. Kerr tells that The Syndicate had discovered it, and Konoko's father was killed. Dr. Kerr also reveals that Muro is Konoko's brother, the child he left behind as he escaped with Konoko to TCTF in order to use the technology of TCTF and establish their security. Griffin, however, opposed greatly to the self-sustaining nature of the chrysalis and wanted it kept under strict control. Before he can reveal more, Dr. Kerr is killed by a TCTF Black Ops member, who attempted to shoot Konoko. After killing Kerr's killer, Konoko then decides to claim revenge on TCTF. To escape the Science Prison, she is forced to test the theory she has just heard, by attempting to escape through acid vats.

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Konoko doesn't stop; she infiltrates the TCTF HQ single-handedly, all to learn that Griffin had used Shinatama to do something. Upon tracking Griffin down, Konoko finds out that Griffin constructed his own security cell with the defenses involving Shinatama, one that knows Konoko the best. As Konoko shuts Shinatama down, Shinatama begs Konoko to stop her, to kill her. In the end, as Shinatama's leftover body marches to Griffin, and Griffin shoots it down, Konoko takes the gun and holds Griffin at gunpoint.

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(At this point, the player is faced with the choice of shooting Griffin or walking away. The choice has no effect on the overall plot. If the player chooses to shoot Griffin, the final showdown ensues between Konoko and Muro's new self as he has accomplished to pass to the next stage of Chrysalis evolution - the Imago stage. This choice makes the game somewhat more difficult to complete, as instead of fighting a large number of weaker enemies, one must face a superboss -- periods of invunerability, massive size and damage, etc. If the player chooses to walk away, then Muro stays in human form, he and his henchmen face Konoko, upon which Griffin comes along to help her. The overall plot remains the same, the ending included.)

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Konoko reaches the mountain compound that The Syndicate is using. Upon her arrival, she discovers that Muro is planning to reroute the atmospheric conversion centers to pollute the clean world; a disaster from which only the Chrysalis can save humankind. As Konoko quotes, "He's planning to kill everyone who doesn't sell his soul to him for a Chrysalis." Quickly devising a counter-measure, Konoko tries to reroute the atmospheric conversion centers, but doesn't interfere in time. Instead, she has a single choice left: destroy the mountain compound and the conversion centers connected to it. Then, she heads to the rooftop to face Muro.

---

After the explosion, Konoko is shown roaming the ruins of the city, and monologuing to herself that, the Chrysalis may save humankind in the form of evolution after the disaster that had occurred, but that the fate of humankind is unclear.

Improved

Suggest whole paragraphs here. You can also reformulate single sentences or add standalone remarks (same as above).

Intro

Konoko goes through some basic training (not necessarily part of the game's story, but more of a tutorial for the player). She receives messages via a neural link from Shinatama, an SLD at the TCTF.

CHAPTER 01 . TRIAL RUN

We next see her outside an unnamed warehouse. Her superior, Commander Griffin, and one Dr. Kerr, argue about whether Konoko is ready for the challenge. Griffin commands her to find Chung, a TCTF agent who infiltrated the warehouse to find ties to the Syndicate. If she can find Chung or the evidence she needs, Griffin can shut the warehouse down or she can shut it down herself. She confirms her readiness, and Shinatama reports a normal spike in adrenaline.

Konoko ventures into the warehouse and finds the TCTF's mole, Chung, lying dead out in the open. Beside him is a pad with notes documenting a tie between the small-time warehouse and Musashi Manufacturing. Meanwhile, Syndicate troops are moving some contraband into an armored truck to get it out of the warehouse. Konoko stops them by commandeering a crane/forklift and flipping the truck on its side. She then demands that Griffin let her investigate the lead Chung's pad gave her, since Musashi is owned by BGI, and Griffin has reported in the past that BGI may be in league with the Syndicate. Shinatama warns that Konoko is de-stabilizing as they argue, so Griffin lets her go.

Added Value

Although we've just met Dr. Kerr, he's clearly being set up to be a sympathetic character, as he argues with Griffin out of concern for her.

Although Griffin merely has suspicions about the warehouse, clearly it has already been overrun by the Syndicate by the time Konoko arrives, as Chung is lying right out in the open, and troops are running all over the place. The terse conversation between Konoko and Griffin when Chung's body is reported gives us a glimpse of how cold Griffin can be. Griffin is not just some desk jockey who politicked his way to his current position, he's a former Elite soldier, and as such, has probably been hardened to steel by his life experiences.

Most interestingly, the pad Chung "dropped" is right there for anyone to see, and it implicates the warehouse in its dealings with Musashi. Wouldn't whoever killed him have cleaned that up at the very least, lest they get their warehouse shut down? Well, we later find out that the lead on Musashi is nothing more than a decoy, so we could assume that the Syndicate probably just worked that pad up themselves (and with the warehouse being overrun by the Syndicate, that "scene" was probably forced to stay as it is, despite what anyone working in league with the Syndicate at the warehouse might have wanted).

But wait a minute: Musashi really is in with the bad guys; they're not innocent by any means. Of course, that means that they make the best kind of decoy; if they were totally clean they wouldn't throw the TCTF off for very long. So did Muro throw them to the wolves just to buy himself a little time? Short answer is yes. Either they did something to displease him or he simply had no need for their services anymore.

Nevertheless, the personal style in which it is written (asking whoever from the TCTF finds it to save the warehouse manager, etc.) sounds like something Chung might actually have written. So rather than it being manufactured data, we could theorize that Chung's easily-discovered body and notes were planted. Someone (maybe Muro) found him out, had him killed, and then read his report and specifically decided to let the TCTF find it so the Syndicate could move on Vago while the TCTF moved on Musashi. "Smart" indeed.

CHAPTER 02 . ENGINES OF EVIL

Konoko immediately heads to Musashi Manufacturing. Her lead as to Musashi not being a legitimate corporation is soon proven when Syndicate goons attack her team. She eventually intuits that the resistance she is facing is merely a decoy while the Syndicate makes another move. Griffin tells her that until they know that for a fact, she should continue gathering evidence against Musashi. Konoko's suspicions are confirmed with word that a nearby research facility is under attack by the Syndicate, but before she can head there, Konoko has to stop a Deadly Brain, which, before being shut down, attempts to hack its way onto the Internet, and then tries to self-destruct. Its Xiox destruct mechanism is quite powerful, so Konoko rushes to shut it down before it vaporizes the surrounding city block.

Added Value

We get our first glimpse of both Muro and Barabas in the chapter opening. We don't yet know how significant Muro is, but he's clearly Barabas' boss, and anyone who can boss that guy around must be dangerous indeed. Just looking at Barabas, he's clearly not normal. Pale skin, a superfluous horn and malformed skull, and strange veins and a messed-up eye are what set him aside from ordinary humans. We'll see what he's physically capable of in the next Chapter.

Konoko shows an almost preternatural intuition here, when she randomly decides halfway through her battles within Musashi that it's "a wild goose chase".

The Deadly Brain at the end of the Chapter seems at first like a big time-waster when you're just trying to finish the level so you can get to where the Syndicate really is. But we'll revisit the concept of the Deadly Brain once again, this time with an artificial (but very human) brain in the frame, instead of a real human one. And the Xbox Xiox bomb that will later nearly kill Konoko is first introduced here so it doesn't seem completely out of the blue when it becomes more important in Chapter 8.

CHAPTER 03 . PUZZLE PIECES

Konoko immediately heads to a facility called Vago Biotech, which is under attack by the Syndicate. To gain entrance to the Labs, Konoko must beat Barabas, a mutated supersoldier wielding an experimental weapon. Upon Barabas' defeat, he retreats, messaging his boss, Muro, to tell him that "She (Konoko) is too strong".

Inside, Konoko finds scientists being slaughtered seemingly for sport. She works her way to the tower, where she encounters her first Mad Bomber. She uses his imminent detonation to clear the lobby below, where her TCTF comrades are pinned down by enemy fire. She then makes her way down to the lobby, where she and the other soldiers are ambushed by the Syndicate from above. She works her way up through the levels of this building, too, clearing out the enemy, then moves into another building with biohazardous material in a vat at the bottom. Upon descending and exiting the building, she sees a van pulling away. Muro is aboard and trying to escape.

Added Value

We see what Barabas is capable of for the first time here. He's "strong" indeed. In fact, he's not human, not entirely anyway. What normal human can make a shockwave like that, or heal themselves so rapidly? In retrospect, having seen Imago Muro's abilities, it seems that Barabas has somehow been implanted with a Chrysalis -- his similar appearance is too noteworthy to dismiss as coincidence and just write him off as one of Bertram Navarre's experiments. But either his Chrysalis is not mature, or, quite possibly, it's not a proper implant like Muro's. Perhaps it wasn't grown with his own DNA. Perhaps Muro used a sample of his Chrysalis to grow Barabas' Chrysalis. We'll never know, but it certainly wouldn't be surprising if Muro was experimenting with the techniques he would need to selectively choose who would survive in his new, post-Sturmanderung world.

"Puzzle Pieces" is an apt name for this level. The story seems to be skipping around like a Mexican jumping bean. First we're in some nondescript warehouse. Next we're in a factory, but wait, that's just a decoy. Now, we're in a laboratory. What is the Syndicate doing? Confusion at this point is natural. But the objective text Konoko receives is incredibly informative: the Syndicate is here to steal "experimental gene surgery equipment". We are far from knowing about the Chrysalis at this point, but in hindsight it certainly seems that Muro is trying to gain the ability to implant Chrysalises in others as was once done to him. An essential point in his plan, if he's going to continue to hold sway over his organization, as they will be understandably concerned if he is planning to kill everyone without a Chrysalis and hasn't the ability to give anyone said Chrysalis. But if he didn't have the ability before now, how do we explain Barabas? Either Barabas is not what he think he is, or this equipment isn't for implanting Chrysalises, but some related purpose, like making them more stable.

Also, this is the first time we are shown the savage side of Muro's organization on a larger scale. Scientists are being killed for no reason, either because Muro encouraged it, or because he makes no attempt to rein in his underlings' psychotic impulses. Of course, in either case, the nature of an organization always tells you something about the nature of the man who leads it.

CHAPTER 04 . TIGER BY THE TAIL

Konoko pursues Muro on motorcycle, and they stop at an airport. Syndicate troops are killing civilians left and right as Muro makes his way through the terminals to his plane. Konoko chases him on foot, and has just caught up to him when he leaves behind a couple troopers to deal with Konoko and makes his way further into the complex. She fights through them, and advances to a tarmac with a plane, but not the one Muro is using. She fights through more waves of Syndicate troops before advancing to another area: the Cargo Hangars....

Added Value

If it were just the scientists from the last Chapter, we could posit that maybe they "knew too much" about something they were working on. But now random workers and citizens are being slaughtered. Muro truly is an agent of chaos.

CHAPTER 05 . HOT PURSUIT

Konoko makes her way through a complex hangar area, and eventually finds an LSI, a device that will let her track Muro's plane when she finds it. She seems to successfully plant the tracking beacon, but when Muro's VTOL plane lifts off, we see that he is aware of who is tailing him. He instructs a henchman to obtain the SLD that is linked to Konoko. The beacon's signal is then cut off (see Mission Complete screen).

Added Value

The end of this Chapter gives rise to speculation. The Syndicate comm guy talking to Muro says that the SLD is being used to "monitor her progress". We don't know what that means at this point, but the fact that Muro wants it indicates that its connection to Konoko is either going to give him information he wants to know about her, or that he will use it as bait to capture her.

CHAPTER 06 . COUNTERATTACK

Shortly afterwards, Regional TCTF Headquarters is blitzed by the Syndicate in a brazen attack. Syndicate soldiers infiltrate all levels of the building. Konoko ascends as quickly as possible to the Command Center, but too late: Barabas has kidnapped Shinatama. She continues to ascend until reaching the terrace on the roof, where Shinatama is lifted out of Konoko's reach in a helicopter. Waiting there for her is Barabas, eager for a rematch. Upon killing him, Konoko experiences her first "Daodan Spike", a rush of power.

Added Value

It's surprising how quickly the TCTF is overrun by the bad guys. Apparently it's a simultaneous attack at multiple points of entry. We can reason that out based on the observation that there are helicopters at the top, and we see a van crashing through an entryway. When it crashes through, alarms start and a security wall comes down (too late for the van). One could assume that it wouldn't make sense to lock one door when an attack is taking place, so if we assume that the whole building went into lockdown at that moment, then clearly it was still too late to stop other troops from entering. Thus, it must have been simultaneous. Apparently the element of surprise is a big part of the reason the TCTF defenses are not activated in the upper levels.

We see one of only two Daodan Spikes in this Chapter. It's unclear what triggers it exactly, but certainly Konoko's emotions have an effect on her Chrysalis, and she's definitely feeling anger. If the spike is an indicator of growth of the Chrysalis, then it's probably not growing "in a good way" at this point. Then again, this could be more like a triumphant ecstasy. See the Daodan article for more info.

CHAPTER 07 . A FRIEND IN NEED

Despite Griffin's orders not to get involved, Konoko leaves on her own to track down Shinatama at an Atmospheric Conversion Center. Meanwhile, Shinatama is being tortured by Muro, either for information or out of pure sadism (or both). Konoko ventures deeper into the facility.

Added Value

Much speculation centers around whether Muro is trying to learn something from Shinatama by way of her neural link, and whether that's even possible, or whether he is simply torturing her for fun. However, it is unlikely that Muro went through so much trouble in the last Chapter just to torture an android. But if we follow the theory that he wants her for Konoko-bait, then we could ask ourselves, why torture the bait? To anger Konoko? Keep in mind that although Konoko knows nothing, Muro knows all about the Chrysalis, including, no doubt, that the host influences the ultimate development of their Chrysalis. Is he trying to turn Konoko to the dark side with anger so she'll join him in his scheme? There's food for thought here, to be sure.

CHAPTER 08 . AN INNOCENT LIFE

Upon finding Shinatama, the SLD informs Konoko that she is too damaged to save, and reveals that Konoko's real name is Mai Hasegawa, and mentions a "Chrysalis" inside Konoko. Griffin, being told that Shinatama is nearby Konoko and that her Xiox mechanism is functional, orders the android's self-destruction. Shinatama manages to warn Konoko in time for her to escape the explosion. Konoko flees, and Griffin pronounces her a rogue agent and a Class B threat. From here on, the TCTF will be her enemies.

Added Value

Now we know how serious Griffin is, in case we wondered how he reacted to Konoko's "I don't care who you are" in the previous Chapter's flashback. Konoko is clearly not cut out to be part of a military organization, mindlessly following orders, and Griffin sees now that he can't change that. Her emotions are leading her to act independently, and Griffin is clearly afraid. We'll see further evidence of his fear later on.

Also, it could be said that with Shinatama's destruction, Konoko dies as well. From now on, she'll be without the identity given her by the TCTF that has turned on her so irrevocably. Without a past or future, Konoko can do nothing but search for the answers to who she is. (This makes the first of two times that a device beginning with "X" and ending with "ox" destroys Konoko/Mai's future prospects.)

CHAPTER 09 . TRUTH AND CONSEQUENCES

Looking for her origins, Konoko goes to the Regional State Building, and there must fight off both TCTF and Syndicate forces. She finds a terminal to access her biographical data, but as she is doing it, Muro's elite ninja Mukade swipes away the data and saves it onto a disc. Upon tracking him down, he escapes through a window and she pursues. He escapes the roof by zipline, but as a subordinate ninja does the same, Konoko latches onto him and is carried to the next rooftop.

Added Value

The mystery deepens when we find out that both the Syndicate and the TCTF have their fingers in this building. The TCTF we can understand; they know Konoko is coming, and by the end of the Chapter, Black Ops has arrived to take or kill Konoko. But why is the Syndicate here? Looked at on the surface, Muro doesn't want Konoko to know something about her past, so he's having his master ninja snatch it away before she gets it. The encounter in the next Chapter with Mukade will introduce other possibilities. But even if this straightforward interpretation is correct, why doesn't Muro want her to learn about her father's discoveries? What does she learn that would inconvenience him? It's difficult to answer that without knowing what he has planned for Konoko, but if he wants her to eventually join him, then it could simply be that he wants the opportunity to feed her lies about what her father wanted to accomplish. Konoko will learn from the disc that her father wanted to save people from the poisoned outside world. Perhaps Muro wants her to believe something else (Cf. "I have accomplished everything our father dreamed of doing." from the last Chapter).

CHAPTER 10 . CAT AND MOUSE

Konoko follows Mukade through the city's rooftops, feeling somehow connected to him on a deep and unpleasant level. Finally cornered, Mukade states that they are one and the same; that they should surrender to their violent nature, and revel in it. Enraged, but in denial of any similarity between them, Konoko kills Mukade and retrieves the disc.

Added Value

Something deep links Mukade and Konoko. That much is fact. But what is the source of their connection? Two main possibilities present themselves:

• That somehow they are related. Konoko does do a lot of thinking about her Dad while tracking him: "That data file contains information about my past. About my dad. I guess I knew I had a father at some point but I don't remember him. Now I want to know everything about the man I tried really hard not to think about..."
• That Mukade also has a Chrysalis. This is a less dramatic revelation, and frankly, less soap-operatic. It would also explain his superhuman abilities (teleportation and the Devil Star). It doesn't explain why, if Barabas also had a Chrysalis, she didn't feel the same when she fought him. But then again, her Chrysalis likely wasn't as far along in developing as it was after she killed him and had an über-spike. There is also evidence for this that can be read into their brief conversation. Let's break it down:

   * 11_40_01 Mukade: All you have done by hunting me is force me to fight. You should have let me go.

Again, it seems that Muro just doesn't want her to know the truth, and a confrontation is not desired (not yet, anyway).

   * 11_40_02 Konoko: Who are you? Why can I feel you inside me?

   * 11_40_03 Mukade: Does your blood burn when you kill? Mine does.

Is this exchange implying they are related? We now know that Konoko can have an über-spike after killing; this could well be the experience he is referring to, to show they have something in common.

   * 11_40_04 Konoko: Stop it...

   * 11_40_05 Mukade: We writhe inside as we are torn apart to make way for what we will become. Surrender to it. 
                      Let the bliss of oblivion free you of all your doubts and fears...

This also makes sense in retrospect when we learn that the Chrysalis replaces its host from the inside out. However, Dr. Kerr's explanation assures Konoko that she will not truly change in personality. Mukade views his transformation as something that will kill him, and, believing this to be inevitable, welcomes it. Konoko, of course, has no way to respond to this intelligently, not even knowing what he's talking about.

   * 11_40_06 Konoko: You are one of Muro's thugs, nothing more.

   * 11_40_07 Mukade: We shall see...

Konoko is clearly trying to distance herself from him; she's seen how evil Muro's men are, and she hates to think that she has something in common with at least one of them. So she belittles him as a 'mere thug'. Mukade promises to show her what he is capable of.

Konoko's unnecessary killing of a clearly-defeated enemy brings into question just how good Konoko is. We know how evil Muro is from plenty of evidence, but we've also been assuming that Konoko is basically a good-hearted victim. Her killing of Mukade seems a desperate, self-defeating attempt to show that she's not like him. Of course, Konoko is without a real identity at this point. Killing Mukade could be seen as a total rejection of the identity that Mukade offers her, one of nihilism and death. An identity that has a lot in common with Muro's.

Note: For an alternate interpretation of these events, Truth Number Zero.

CHAPTER 11 . DREAM DIVER

Konoko goes to her father, Dr. Hasegawa's, laboratory, wherein she discovers most of her past by reading the information on the disc. Apparently, Dr. Hasegawa was a teacher, and had fallen in love with a student of his, Jamie, who was an activist who believed that the government was hiding secrets. One day, Jamie and Dr. Hasegawa ventured into a forbidden wilderness zone (the "infected" area that the ACCs protect humanity from), and Jamie cut her leg on a thorny plant. In a matter of moments, the wound became infected and Jamie began to die in agony. Unable to bear seeing her in pain, Dr. Hasegawa shot Jamie. Now a witness to the sheer danger of the poisonous outside world, he determines, "I will not let this tragedy happen again. [Jamie's] brother will help me. He misses her as much as I do." Konoko learns that Jamie's maiden name was Kerr, and realizes she must be Doctor Kerr's sister. Now she knows who has the answers she needs.

Added Value

This is the Chapter renowned for its strange dream that follows the above revelations, as well as an unsettling series of appearances by Shinatama, calling to Konoko, as if to lead her to some greater truth. Konoko also confronts Muro, Griffin, and her old self, as she realizes that no one is on her side (except Dr. Kerr, whom she hasn't talked to yet). A difficult dream to interpret, but perhaps no deeper than a sign of how confused she is about where to turn to.

CHAPTER 12 . SINS OF THE FATHER

Konoko sneaks into the so-called "TCTF Science Prison" to find Dr. Kerr, who tells her about the solution he developed with her father. They had named it a "Daodan Chrysalis". When spliced with human genes, it was supposed to make a new body that would be greatly superior to the gene donor's. (It is left unclear as to whether the Chrysalis was intended from the beginning to be implanted into a human or to "grow" a new one.) Two Chrysalises were started growing, one based on Hasegawa's daughter, Konoko... and one based on his son Muro.

Dr. Kerr reveals that they could only obtain funding by making a deal with the Syndicate. At first their work was undisturbed by their funders, but one day the Syndicate raided their labs. They captured Dr. Hasegawa and Muro, but Kerr escaped with Konoko (and the Chrysalis based on Konoko's DNA, apparently) and fled to the TCTF. When Griffin, the head of the regional branch, heard that the Syndicate had implanted young Muro with their Chrysalis, he forced Kerr to implant Konoko with their own as a countermeasure should the Daodan process produce a superhuman. Konoko was seven at the time.

By implanting a person with a Chrysalis, it would adapt to the biology which contained it, and grow as the host suffered damage, altering the body to prevent further similar damage. Eventually, the Chrysalis would replace the organs of the host with its own versions of such. The final form the host body takes is apparently determined by that person's "nature".

Before he can reveal more, a TCTF Black Ops soldier attempts to shoot Konoko with a lethal Mercury Bow. Kerr leaps in front of her, taking the shot. After killing Kerr's murderer, Konoko decides to claim revenge on the TCTF. First, she must escape the net that is closing down around her. To escape the Science Prison, she is forced to test the theory she has just heard, by diving into an acid vat and hoping that the Chrysalis protects her.

Added Value

Now we find out what it's all about. If one divides the storyline into three acts, then the first act ("Old Identity") ended when Konoko realized she couldn't go back to the TCTF, and the second act ("No Identity") ends with Konoko/Mai gaining answers and a renewed sense of hope from her uncle. To fully escape her past, she must dive into the acid vat with trust in the very thing inside her that she has been fearing. When she emerges, with nothing of her former life (even her clothes and equipment), she is "reborn" as the person she needs to become. Now she is truly Mai Hasegawa. Even though she is not fully transformed by her Chrysalis, she is now able to act with the knowledge she needs to be a fully-realized person ("New Identity").

CHAPTER 13 . PHOENIX RISING

Konoko infiltrates the TCTF HQ single-handedly, only to have Griffin escape by a hair's-breadth, retreating to his Omega Bunker, the most secure location in the heavily-secured building. Upon finally descending into the Bunker, Konoko finds that Griffin has constructed his own security cell, using the partially-salvaged and rebuilt Shinatama as the defensive AI. As the one that knows Konoko the best, she is the best choice for such a position. As Konoko progressively defeats higher levels of security and shuts Shinatama down, Shinatama begs Konoko to kill her. In the end, Shinatama's crude substitute for her lost body breaks free from the Deadly Brain frame, and advances on Griffin, who shoots it down. Konoko suddenly steps in and brutally disarms her former boss, turning the pistol on him.

Now she has to choose: exact her deserved revenge by pulling the trigger -- or walk away in a show of mercy. (This is a choice made by the player, and so the end of the next chapter has two possible variants, marked as A (player killed Griffin) and B (player spared Griffin).)

Added Value

If there's one tragic figure in this story, even more so than Kerr, it's Shinatama. Killed just to get at Konoko, then resurrected as a machine to kill her friend again, in the end she desires only death. Being an SLD obviously puts limits on her free will, as she can only protest, but not actively fight the Deadly Brain frame that she is plugged into.

Shinatama does seem to experience a freedom of action at the very end when the frame is shut down, and although she is unable to protect Mai from Griffin directly, her attack gives Mai the time to move in on Griffin. In some stories, the notion of a "soul" or simply the "true human nature" that separates us from the animals is tied to free will. If that's applied here, then in the end Shinatama did in fact have a moment of humanness after all when she turned on Griffin, a silicon soul, if you will.

On a lighter note, Griffin's override code (whatever it was supposed to do), his final hope, fails to work for no explained reason. Or is it so unexplained?

CHAPTER 14 . DAWN OF THE CHRYSALIS

Konoko reaches the mountain compound of Muro's group in the Syndicate, STURMANDERUNG. Surging with Daodan power and anger, she cleans out floor after floor of Syndicate troops, discovering the progressive phases of SUTRMANDERUNG's plans from consoles along the way.

She realizes that Muro is planning to reroute the Atmospheric Conversion Centers to pollute the air instead of cleansing it; a disaster from which only the Chrysalis can save humankind. Konoko theorizes, "He's planning to kill everyone who doesn't sell his soul to him for a Chrysalis." Konoko sees no other option than triggering Muro's plan prematurely, causing only some ACCs to fail and giving humanity longer to survive. She sabotages the dish that is supposed to broadcast the signal to scramble to ACCs.

Then, she heads to the rooftop to face Muro.

A: Muro faces her one-on-one, but transforms to his Imago state, the manifestation of the Chrysalis inside him. He proves to be monstrously powerful.
B: Muro chastises her for coming alone, when suddenly Griffin (in Black Ops armor such as he once wore regularly) and two Black Ops soldiers disembark from a helicopter. Konoko, Griffin and his men face off against Muro and many of his best subordinates.

Added Value

It's surprising just how difficult the killed-Griffin scenario is. Singlehandedly facing un-transformed Muro and all the henchmen he summons in scenario B would be easier than the fight is with just Imago Muro. This could be seen as karmic retribution for Mai's actions (or a statement of morality by the game designers); she kills Griffin, and now she has no one to help her. But it's difficult to explain within the story why Muro transforms in ending A and not in ending B. How does Griffin being dead make a difference in whether Muro can/wants to transform? If anything, one would expect he would be more likely to try to reason with her in his normal form if she killed Griffin, since she might have a better chance of joining him. His Imago state would be more logically be used against a Mai who stood totally opposed to Muro's wanton killing, and thus would be used in scenario B against Mai, Griffin, and his Black Ops team.

Also, here is where we see what a person looks like if they have Muro's nature, since Kerr told Mai that one's nature determines the outcome of the transformation. It's not pretty. It does, however, resemble Barabas, albeit to a more extreme degree. There is also a possible tie-in, however unlikely, to the notion covered here, that a person taken with rage can become an oni, or demon (monster). This is Muro's true nature.

For more discussion of Muro's ultimate motives, see his page and this one.

Finally, we never see Mai's Imago state. Why not? She's had her Chrysalis about as long as Muro's had his, as far as we know. We can only speculate as to whether her transformation would be so monstrous, or so dramatic, or whether it would resemble the original Mai more closely, since she was not nearly as savage as Muro. Still, she wasn't a saint, so if one expects the Imago state to reflect how "pure" one is, she might well turn out to have a somewhat frightening appearance, if not so drastically as Muro did. It's possible that morality in any absolute sense is not a factor in the Imago state's appearance, but even if it is simply a matter of how much killing a Daodan host does, and the Chrysalis adapting to that life to make the host a more efficient killer, you could still expect Muro's nature as a wanton killer to make him more monstrous than Mai, even if she herself changed in a similar way.

Outro

Some time later, Konoko is shown roaming the ruins of a city, and monologuing to herself that many have died from the sabotage of the ACCs. The Chrysalis may yet save the survivors, but the ultimate effect that its introduction will have on humankind is unclear. "Let's hope it's for the better."