Log.01: The Truth of Rubicon 3 and Coral - Swarm Intelligence Writhing on the Scorched Star and the Consequences of Transhumanism

© Bandai Namco Entertainment, © FromSoftware

Introduction: Bloodline Energy and Dystopian Exploitation

Located in a frontier star system, the planet Rubicon 3 is a scorched world shrouded in eternally falling ash and clouds of death. About half a century ago, an unprecedented disaster known as the Fires of Ibis engulfed this star system, completely reducing the surface ecosystem and civilization to ashes. To this planet, which at first glance appears to be nothing more than a barren wasteland devoid of life, Extraterrestrial Corporations, the Planetary Closure Administration (PCA), and Independent Mercenaries swarming like vultures over carrion have returned, waging a blood-soaked conflict known as the Coral War. There is only one reason for this: the existence of Coral, a crimson substance that still pulses deep beneath the planet’s surface.

For the massive Extraterrestrial Corporations from outside, Coral is merely the ultimate energy resource that yields enormous profits and a source of military superiority to outmaneuver their rivals. However, the true nature of Coral—revealed by piecing together fragmented archives buried beneath the ash, the delirious ravings of Dosers sunken in madness, and the records of the Rubicon Research Institute (RRI) buried in the darkness of history—fundamentally overturns the perception of cold-hearted capitalistic exploitation.

This article will unravel the biological and philosophical essence of Coral, the crimson blood flowing through Rubicon 3. It will provide a systematic analysis, interweaving facts and observations, regarding the abnormal ecosystem and fanatical culture formed around it, as well as the profound sins of Transhumanism that destroyed the boundaries of humanity.

1. Coral as Swarm Intelligence and the Awakening of Ego

1.1 The “Red Shooting Star” as a Complex Adaptive System

The true identity of the Coral that Extraterrestrial Corporations consume as a “highly efficient volatile fuel” is not an inorganic mineral or fossil fuel.

【Fact】 Coral is a colony of microscopic organic lifeforms harboring extremely high energy density, possessing the property of self-replicating exponentially in a vacuum. At the same time, Coral itself has the characteristics of a high-density data conduit, enabling extremely high-speed data transfer.

【Observation】 From a biological perspective, the ecology of Coral can be defined as a Complex Adaptive System, closely resembling mycelium, real-world marine coral, or a swarm of bees. Individual microscopic Corals connect with each other through electrical signals, forming a complex network akin to synapses in the human brain. Exhibiting highly advanced behaviors that cannot be predicted from a single element, this substance acts as a single Swarm Intelligence—a superorganism that shares perception and thought on a planetary scale. The corporations, either ignorant of its true nature or intentionally ignoring it, simply feed this “thinking, adapting living energy” into the power reactors of their machines, burning it away as propellant.

1.2 C-Pulse Wave Mutation and the True Identity of the “Voices”

When Coral transcends being a mere colony and acquires consciousness as a distinct individual, the true tragedy of Rubicon is revealed.

【Fact】 When Coral accumulates beyond a certain density deep underground and forms a massive torrent (Coral flow), a unique fluctuation can occur within its information network. This phenomenon is known as a C-Pulse Wave Mutation. Entities confirmed in the story, such as Ayre, and Seria, who appears in past records mentioned later, fall under this category. Despite being pure energy bodies without physical forms, they possess advanced intelligence, emotions, and linguistic abilities equivalent to humans. Utilizing their nature as data conduits, they can directly intervene in any electronic device or network, ignoring physical constraints.

【Observation】 There is a theory that Wave Mutations like Ayre and Seria are “the remnants that absorbed the souls (consciousness) of humans who were once burned in the Fires of Ibis,” but this has not been fully proven. However, there is no doubt that Coral has the ability to deeply connect with human cranial nerves and mimic or preserve their memories and consciousness patterns. From a philosophical standpoint, the existence of Coral is a metaphor for the “ultimate exploitation” in dystopian sci-fi. Extraterrestrial Corporations are consuming the planet’s indigenous inhabitants—who potentially possess or already possess intelligence—as fuel for their weapons. Every time a weapon breathes fire and soars through the sky, the invisible death agonies of spirits echo there. The true identity of the “auditory hallucinations” and “tinnitus” that torment the Old-Generation Augmented Humans, which will be touched upon later, is none other than the screams of these burning Corals.

2. The Ecosystem of Rubicon and the Origins of Fanaticism

On Rubicon 3, where the surface ecosystem was completely devastated by the Fires of Ibis, how have the surviving humans (Rubiconians) managed to sustain their lives for half a century? Therein lies the ultimate irony of survival.

2.1 Mealworms and the Self-Contradictory Food Chain

【Fact】 The primary, or perhaps only, food source for Rubiconians are giant insect larvae called Mealworms. These worms have grown to abnormal sizes by directly ingesting Coral welling up from beneath Rubicon as nourishment. As corporations greedily mine and deplete the Coral, the worms’ nourishment dries up, and the Rubiconians face severe starvation.

【Observation】 The Rubicon Liberation Front (RLF) reveres Coral as a “blessing of the stars” and fiercely hates the corporations that devour it as foreign enemies. However, in the reality of the struggle for survival, they themselves can only survive by gorging on the worms that grew by feeding on that sacred intelligent entity (Coral). They too, albeit in a form with different dimensions and purposes than the corporations, are completely integrated into a maddening ecosystem that exploits and consumes Coral, the indigenous lifeform of Rubicon. This inescapable self-contradiction is the existential tragedy of the Rubiconian existence.

2.2 Doser Culture and the Despair of Father Dolmayan

Coral, being a data conduit with a direct affinity for biological cranial nerves, is also distributed as a narcotic that induces intense hallucinations and sensory expansion when inhaled in its raw (unprocessed) state.

【Fact】 Those who abuse Coral as a narcotic are called Dosers, forming outlaw groups such as RaD and the Junker Coyotes. The spiritual leader and founder of the Rubicon Liberation Front, “Father” Thumb Dolmayan, was also one of these Dosers in his youth. Through excessive Coral intake (overdose), Dolmayan’s brain synapses became deeply connected to the massive Coral network, leading him to achieve Contact with the Wave Mutation Seria before the Fires of Ibis.

【Observation】 This paranormal experience became the origin of the “Coral Mysticism” he would later advocate. However, Contact with Seria brought Dolmayan not salvation, but despair and tremendous ethical agony. This was because, while listening to the voice of Seria, a “friend with a clear ego,” Dolmayan simultaneously had to continue consuming her brethren, the Coral (either through Mealworms or directly as a narcotic), for his own survival and spiritual fulfillment. Seria said, “Coral multiplies infinitely, so it does not matter,” proposing a twisted, self-sacrificial symbiosis by offering her own flesh (her brethren). Yet, a relationship built on continuously consuming the flesh of an intelligent being could never be a true “Symbiosis.”

2.3 The Terrifying Choice to “Not Cast the Die”

The true symbiosis that Seria ultimately derived was Coral Release, scattering Coral throughout the entire universe to completely fuse physically and mentally with the human species.

【Fact】 Dolmayan rejected this proposal and severed his Contact with Seria. Convinced that “only tragedy awaits” beyond the liberation of Coral, he chose to keep Coral confined to Rubicon. The first verse of the widely known hymn of the Liberation Front, “Coral, abide with Rubicon. Coral, endure within us all, For none of us shall cast the die,” embodies this philosophy of Dolmayan.

【Observation】 Dolmayan’s decision is, in a sense, a manifestation of cowardice based on the human instinct for survival. He feared casting the die toward an unknown evolution (Release). He fled from the cosmic horror where the existential boundaries of humanity would vanish, and the form of the human species would be lost. As a result, he bound Coral within the cage of Rubicon, choosing a “quagmire of the status quo” where his own brethren starve, are trampled by corporations, and continue to await a slow death. The madness he displays on the battlefield as he approaches old age is the flip side of the irrevocable guilt of betraying and continuously leaving to die the very entity he revered as a god.

3. The Madness of the Rubicon Research Institute and Transhumanism

The Rubicon Research Institute (RRI), which existed before the Fires of Ibis, was the organization that came closest to the truth of Coral, yet treated it in the most cold-hearted and inhumane manner. Led by Professor Nagai, the design philosophy of this organization is colored by a complete lack of ethics and a runaway Transhumanism conducted under the guise of scientific exploration.

3.1 Botanical Metaphors and the Design Philosophy of C-Weapons

The names of the Coral-driven unmanned weapons (C-Weapons) and military facilities developed by the Institute intentionally use codes related to “plants.”

【Observation】 The philosophical implication of this thorough botanical metaphor is extremely cold-blooded. The scientists at the Institute must have realized that Coral was a complex biological network and potentially possessed intelligence. However, they intentionally redefined it not as a “neighbor to converse with,” but as a “passive entity to be drawn up as nourishment (sap), consumed, and circulated”—in other words, a “plant” devoid of the capacity for thought. For them, Coral had to be the flesh and blood to operate weapons infinitely, a convenient inorganic material.

3.2 Augmented Human Technology and “Lost Humanity”

Focusing on Coral’s high data transmission capabilities, the Institute developed “Augmentation Surgery,” which involved pouring Coral directly into the human cranial nervous system to maximize the interface between human and AC. This is the worst invention born from the Institute’s inhumanity.

【Fact】 The “old-generation” augmentation surgeries, from the first to the fourth generation, involved fixing Coral into the biological brain, and the survival rate was extremely low (said to be 10% for the first generation). Even those who survived (such as C4-621 and G5 Iguazu) are tormented by aftereffects like severe emotional detachment, mental regression, and auditory hallucinations resembling severe schizophrenia, because the Coral network is forcibly bound to their cerebral cortex. In the story, this is referred to as the “loss of humanity.”

【Observation】 The process by which Old-Generation Augmented Humans are optimized for piloting ACs is a process of abandoning bodily dignity and being reduced to “biological processing parts” for machines. The “tinnitus” and “headaches” that constantly torment G5 Iguazu are not merely aftereffects of the surgery. They are the screams of the Coral colony being burned as weapon power, flowing endlessly through the pilot’s cranial nerves—the intense noise emitted by the Swarm Intelligence itself. The existence of a pilot like V.I Freud, who boasts of being the strongest despite being “unaugmented,” presents an existential irony: pure human fighting instinct is the strongest, and the Transhumanism of Augmented Humans, who burn their brains to become part of a machine, is a comical and hollow act.

In later eras, Augmented Human technology from the seventh generation onward utilized “Coral Substitution Technology,” dramatically improving safety. However, even though the corporations obtained a safe data conduit to replace Coral, they continue to invade Rubicon in pursuit of Coral as the ultimate physical energy source and resource for weaponization. This reveals the insatiable greed of capitalism, which can never be satisfied no matter how much technology advances.

4. The Fires of Ibis and Professor Nagai’s Decision

About 50 years ago, the historical turning point that became the underlying cause of the Coral War, the Fires of Ibis, occurred. While ostensibly spoken of as an accident or disaster, the truth revealed by archive logs is that it was a “system-wide immolation” intentionally triggered by Professor Nagai, the head of the Institute.

4.1 The Singularity Known as Coral Collapse

【Fact】 Professor Nagai realized that when the Coral accumulated in the Vascular Plant self-replicated beyond a certain critical point in a vacuum, an event called Coral Collapse would occur. This collapse harbored the danger of forming a singularity (a black hole-like spatial collapse), developing into an unknown cosmic disaster that could swallow the entire universe. To prevent the collapse beforehand, Professor Nagai forcibly activated the sealed “Ibis series.” Using C-Weapons such as the autonomous CEL 240 and HAL 826, the Institute’s only manned AC, he executed the ignition of the accumulated Coral in the Vascular Plant he had built himself.

【Observation】 As a result, a massive conflagration occurred that engulfed not only Rubicon 3 but also the surrounding star systems, reducing all civilizations to ashes. Professor Nagai’s decision is the ultimate terrorism based on a kind of utilitarianism. Having pursued the possibilities of Coral to the absolute limit as researchers at the Institute, they realized at the eleventh hour, with terror, that the system born of their own intellectual curiosity would ironically become the trigger to destroy the universe.

The Fires of Ibis were a manifestation of humanity’s absolute “terror” toward uncontrollable evolution. Even at the sacrifice of billions of lives and an entire star system, they burned the planet itself as a “massive firewall” to preserve the known universe and the form of humanity. The reason the PCA (Planetary Closure Administration) currently relentlessly blockades Rubicon 3 and continues to deploy countless defense weapons is that the system overseeing them is strictly programmed to physically contain the recurrence of this Coral Collapse.

5. Converging Fates and the Philosophy of “Choice”

In modern Rubicon, the Arquebus Corporation has seized the Institute’s legacy, the Vascular Plant, and is once again drawing up Coral from all over the planet into one place. As a result, the density of Coral is rapidly returning to pre-Fires of Ibis levels, and a critical event known as Coral Convergence is about to be triggered.

The conclusion that lies beyond this convergence is the very collision point of the ideologies of all factions surrounding Rubicon 3. The player, C4-621 (Raven), is forced to make three existential choices as the hands of this doomsday clock advance.

1. Severance by Fear (Fires of Raven): The goal of the organization Overseer, led by Handler Walter and Cinder Carla, is to recreate Professor Nagai’s hellfire in the modern era. They intend to crash the massive floating city Xylem into the Vascular Plant, burning away all the multiplied Coral once again. It is an extremely anthropocentric and tragic choice to execute a planetary-scale genocide in order to completely abandon the possibility of dialogue with an unknown lifeform (Coral) and securely protect the safety of the human species.

2. Painful Status Quo (Liberator of Rubicon): What Ayre and the Rubiconians desire is to prevent the hellfire that would burn the planet and to expel the exploiting Extraterrestrial Corporations. However, this is not a fundamental solution. As long as Coral remains on Rubicon, Rubiconians must continue to consume their brethren, the Coral, through Mealworms, and the threat of new exploiters arriving from space will never permanently vanish. Even so, it is an existentialist path of “resistance”—continuing to explore the possibility of coexistence while eternally bearing pain and struggle, without exterminating the other (Coral).

3. Plunge into Evolution (Alea Iacta Est / Coral Release): This is the ultimate destination orchestrated by the mercenary support system ALLMIND, which was once proposed by the Wave Mutation Seria and rejected by Dolmayan. It involves raising the density of Coral to a critical point, intentionally generating a black hole-like singularity, and scattering Coral across the entire universe. This is the zenith (singularity) of Transhumanism, where humanity and Coral lose their physical and mental boundaries and completely fuse. This choice, which Father Dolmayan rejected as the terror of death, implies the end of the traditional human species, while simultaneously signifying a transcendent evolution into a new dimension where neither loneliness nor physical pain exists.

Conclusion: The Proof of Free Will Dancing in the Ashen Sky

The history surrounding Rubicon 3 and Coral is not a mere struggle for hegemony over an energy resource. It is a continuous series of extreme ethical and existential questions directed at “an environment itself that possesses flesh and blood, thinks, and multiplies infinitely,” which humanity has encountered for the first time.

Extraterrestrial Corporations relentlessly burned it as “fuel,” the Rubicon Research Institute implanted it into human brains as “parts,” Father Dolmayan consumed it as Mealworms while revering it as a “god,” and Overseer attempted to burn it away along with the star system as a “cosmic disease.” Everyone distorted and utilized the essence of Coral to suit their own convenience.

C4-621, an Old-Generation Augmented Human created as a mere “Mutt” whose brain was burned, emotions stripped, and who only followed the orders of others, makes Contact with the Wave Mutation Ayre, witnesses all these ideologies, and chooses by their own will which “trigger” to pull. That itself is the sole and absolute “proof of existence through free will” that a single mercenary can demonstrate in this gruesome dystopia shaped by capitalist exploitation, runaway science, and systemic violence. The sky, enveloped in the ash of the scorched planet, quietly awaits the consequence of that final decision.