BGI

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

Canceled BGI HQ

This level was intended as a confrontation with the shadowy BGI, which was later excised from the story as Oni's development ran out of time. Work-in-progress scripts for this level can be found in European Mac releases and the PS2 port. The scripts contain two fragmentary cutscenes. The first describes Konoko setting a bomb and taking cover, and the resulting explosion. The other cutscene introduces the Iron Demon that would end up getting cut from the game.

Only known screenshots labeled as BGI (click to enlarge)

Regional State connection

That architecture looks a bit like the Regional State Building in CHAPTER 09 . TRUTH AND CONSEQUENCES, which incidentally is linked to the Iron Demon through this image of Konoko being chased by the Iron Demon and also this sequence from the 1999 trailer. The building in that footage looks like Regional State, but maybe it was intended to be BGI? If so, many other pre-beta screenshots (or trailer snapshots) of the RSB architecture could in fact be glimpses of the BGI level.

TCTF connection

The BGI level turned into TCTF HQ. [...] [A]ll of the levels in the game ultimately ended up being composites of architectural details that were stripped from various other pieces that the architects had made. The screenshots that you have of BGI were part of [an earlier, unused] building, as were a lot of the pieces of TCTF HQ.

--Hardy LeBel, 2019

Was Hardy recalling this accurately, or was he thinking of Regional State when he said "TCTF HQ"?

Syndicate HQ

The number of the level, 16, would place it after Konoko meets with Kerr in Science Prison and escapes from it, and before Konoko returns to the TCTF to confront Griffin – but that's only true if the current story was in place at the time. We know that content was shuffled around late in development – so late that Bungie West couldn't even contemplate renumbering the levels to match the new arrangement, and left gaps all over the place.

Of particular interest is that fact that Mountain Compound originally came much earlier in the level order (see Pre-beta content § Obsolete). If TCTF II and Compound hadn't been placed at level18 and level19 and nothing was ever produced for level17, the last level in the game would have been BGI at level16. This leads us to an intriguing finding, which is that Alex Okita labeled the four "BGI" images in his art gallery as "Syndicate headquarters". Was BGI originally synonymous with the Syndicate?

If so, this implies the fight with the Iron Demon to be a "final boss", and the script's mention of a "roof bomb" and massive explosions as a climactic destruction of the final level. Note the Early Story, which ended with Konoko bringing down a building on everyone's heads. Was the BGI level script leading to the planned ending where everyone but Konoko dies?

Mentions in final game

Chung's datapad

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

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

Added value

Meaning of name

Quoting Hardy LeBel from the old Oni Central Forum:

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

Status and role

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

It's also not clear whether Konoko's and Griffin's zealous crackdown on BGI is supported by the rest of the TCTF and WCG. There's a subtle balance of power between the WCG and the Syndicate, and both sides (especially the WCG) are interested in preserving it. BGI is an ambiguous organization, poised between WCG and Syndicate, halfway between legal and illegal: a third party of its own.

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

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

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

Another idea

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

Real BGIs

There is a real-world entity named BGI, founded in 1999, which works with the human genome and other genetic data.

There's an unrelated BGI Group which constructs massive buildings in the U.S., Canada and Panama.

There is also a real-world company named BGI Worldwide Logistics, no relation to this.

Lastly, let's not overlook Binary Group, Inc., which does… something we're not entirely clear on. "Transformational initiatives"? The fact that they have a connection to the DoD while also doing "Asset Management" makes them extra-shady.