Log.06: V.II Snail and Arquebus (Vespers) - I Am Arquebus!

© Bandai Namco Entertainment, © FromSoftware

Introduction: The Monster of Capitalism and the Deprivation of Existence on Rubicon 3

On the frontier planet Rubicon 3, smeared with soot and Coral and locked in endless conflict, the extraterrestrial megacorporation Arquebus Corporation reigns as a distinctly cold and systematic symbol of oppression. In stark contrast to its rival, Balam Industries, which favors militaristic brute force and gritty human relations, Arquebus sought to seize hegemony over Rubicon through advanced energy weapon technology, exhaustive hierarchical management, and an inhumane system that consumes the human spirit itself as a resource.

This report is part of a series of investigations unraveling the immense historical and philosophical background of the planet Rubicon, focusing on V.II Snail, the de facto ruler of the Vespers, the Augmented Human squad serving as the vanguard of Arquebus. Slipping through the surveillance network of the Planetary Closure Administration (PCA) to illegally advance onto Rubicon, by what logic did this massive corporation grind down the lives of others, and with what ideology did it justify itself? By synthesizing fragmented archives, communication logs, and the intentions behind their assemblies (AC configurations) and emblems, and by strictly distinguishing between the objective records explicitly stated in the game and the philosophical insights logically derived from them, this report will thoroughly elucidate the sci-fi context in which they are portrayed.

Dissecting the psychological structure of the individual known as Snail is synonymous with dissecting the inhumanity of the Arquebus Corporation itself. This is because he is destined to perish screaming from his own mouth, “I am Arquebus!” Through him, we witness the extreme limits of Transhumanism and the ultimate fate of a human enslaved by a system.

1. The Corporate Structure of Arquebus and the Cruelty of Technological Supremacy

1.1 Records and Testimonies [Facts]

Arquebus Corporation is an interstellar military-industrial complex operating to monopolize Coral interests on Rubicon 3. From the communication logs and part descriptions in the game, it can be confirmed that the company has established a highly advanced division of labor and a network of subsidiaries. They possess their own advanced technology development division, Arquebus ADD, and the weaponry and frames developed there are extremely high-performance and expensive. Furthermore, they have subordinated Schneider, a company specializing in weapon development focused on aerodynamics and weight reduction, as a subsidiary, aiming for technological monopoly and diversification.

Unlike its rival Balam, which relies on kinetic weapons and heavy armor (physical mass), Arquebus’s design philosophy specializes in generator output management and the operation of energy weapons. In military operations as well, they adhere to an extremely ruthless rationalism. During Operation Wallclimber early in the story, Arquebus sent numerous Independent Mercenaries ahead as decoys against the “Wall,” where the Rubicon Liberation Front had laid a formidable defensive line. Their plan was to consume the lives of the mercenaries hired with money as a cost, and to deploy their elite Vespers squad unscathed by exploiting the gaps when the enemy’s defense network thinned out. Consequently, because Handler Walter’s Hound, Raven (C4-621), single-handedly breached the Wall’s defense network and destroyed the Heavy Mobile Artillery Juggernaut alongside V.IV Rusty, their scheme succeeded in an unexpected manner.

1.2 Philosophical Interpretation and Depths [Analysis]

What can be read from Arquebus’s operational conduct and corporate structure is the perfected form of a capitalist dystopia: the thorough “externalization of risk” and “capitalization of life.” As seen in Operation Wallclimber, Arquebus extremely loathes damaging its own resources (regular soldiers and expensive ACs) and forces that risk onto the external lowest class (Independent Mercenaries). The deaths of the mercenaries are processed merely as “necessary expenses” on their balance sheets.

This coldness is consistent in their technological development as well. The descriptions of heavy armor frames like the “VE-42A” developed by Arquebus ADD note that cutting-edge technology to counter the Planetary Closure Administration (PCA) has been lavishly applied. On the other hand, the core part of the “LAMMERGEIER” frame developed by its subsidiary Schneider features a structure that completely disregards pilot protection in order to reduce air resistance to the absolute limit. This is the manifestation of a corporate philosophy that deems the safety and lives of pilots entirely unworthy of consideration as long as technological superiority is secured.

To them, humans are nothing more than “biological components (wetware)” meant to operate advanced weapon systems. This ideology of commodifying humanity into parts will later stain the earth of Rubicon with blood in even more gruesome ways through “re-education” and “Augmented Human technology,” which will be detailed later.

2. The Plunder of the Spirit Shown by the “Arquebus Re-education Center” and “The Factory”

2.1 Records and Testimonies [Facts]

The Arquebus Re-education Center (AREC) is repeatedly mentioned in the game as Arquebus’s infamous system. The reality of this facility is revealed in fragments through text data recoverable in missions such as “Ocean Crossing” and “Escape,” as well as through the dialogue of certain enemy soldiers when engaged in combat.

The data log “Text Data: Re-education Center” records that a temporary branch of AREC was established to smoothly facilitate the investigation of Coral responses on Rubicon. It notes that the primary targets are Rubiconian prisoners of war, and that prisoners from rival corporate factions are also subject to re-education. During the battle with V.VII Swinburne, if the player corners him and accepts his plea for his life, he lets the player go. However, immediately afterward, a communication from Snail comes in, announcing that Swinburne himself will be sent to the Arquebus Re-education Center.

As an even graver fact, there are records indicating that those who show resistance to re-education or possess advanced combat skills are transferred to another facility called “The Factory” after undergoing appropriate processing. According to a data log recoverable in the mission “Escape,” “performance tests of unmanned craft (AI-controlled ACs)” are conducted at The Factory. Following disappointing results, an instruction is issued: “Next time, leave the torso intact.”

And towards the end of the “Liberator of Rubicon” route, Handler Walter, having been captured by Arquebus, appears before the player in a state of gruesome modification at the hands of the company. Placed in Arquebus’s state-of-the-art craft (or the Institute relic, HAL 826), he continues to spew muddled words, torn between the corporate order to “kill Raven” and his original mission to “burn the Coral,” despite suffering severe impairments to his language center and consciousness.

2.2 Philosophical Interpretation and Depths [Analysis]

The existence of “re-education” and “The Factory” is the core of the sci-fi horror demonstrating how Arquebus destroys human Existentialism and integrates it into a totalitarian system.

Reminiscent of George Orwell’s 1984, this “re-education” goes far beyond mere ideological control or torture; it is the physical and neurological dismantling of the ego. The fact that Swinburne was sent to this facility immediately after embezzling his squad’s funds and begging for his life shows that Arquebus values “absolute obedience to the organization” above all else, attempting to correct (erase) even the personal ego of self-preservation as a bug in the system. That Swinburne’s emblem mimics the instruments of a “lobotomy” is nothing less than a metaphor for the psychological destruction he has inflicted upon others, or ultimately had inflicted upon himself.

The instruction to “leave the torso intact” at The Factory is the most hideous practice of Transhumanism. Arquebus researchers are trying to figure out why AI-controlled unmanned ACs fall short of skilled human pilots. However, it is inferred that rather than respecting humans, they are directly wiring human organs, central nervous systems, or the brain itself into the craft as a “superior fire control system.” Stripping the limbs from a human body and connecting only the torso and brain to a machine. This is not a pilot, but a demotion to a biological part capable of feeling pain.

Walter’s tragedy is the prime example of this spiritual plunder by Arquebus. Even he, who possessed an iron will, had his ego shattered by Arquebus’s re-education (adjustments at The Factory) and was nearly remade into a pawn of the system. To Arquebus, human “will” and “purpose” are obstructive noise; all they desired was a “weapon that faithfully executes orders while possessing the intuitive combat capabilities of a human.” This act of completely depriving individuals of “choice” and reducing them to cogs in the massive machine of the corporation is the very essence of the Arquebus dystopia.

3. The Hierarchical Structure of the Vespers and the Absence of “Thought”

3.1 Records and Testimonies [Facts]

The Vespers, Arquebus’s most elite squad, appear at first glance to be a glamorous and sophisticated mercenary group. The squad members are assigned numbers from V.I to V.VIII, and interestingly, almost all members except V.IV Rusty are named after prominent philosophers, artists, and thinkers from Earth’s old era.

The greatest anomaly in this squad lies in the distortion of its chain of command. The top of the squad, V.I Freud, is a “normal human” who has undergone no surgeries whatsoever in an era where Augmented Human surgery is common sense; he is a blood knight (battle maniac) who shows interest only in piloting ACs and combat itself. He is entirely uninvolved in Arquebus’s strategies or political maneuvering.

Therefore, it is the Deputy Captain, V.II Snail, who manages everything from the squad’s practical affairs, operational planning, and negotiations with other factions, all the way to re-education. In the game’s communication logs, there are scenes where Snail issues orders to Freud, saying, “Playtime is over,” or “Leave that Mutt alone,” and Freud shows a semblance of agreement but immediately cuts the communication to prioritize his own desires.

3.2 Philosophical Interpretation and Depths [Analysis]

The naming and hierarchical structure of the Vespers squad serve as a biting irony of how Arquebus’s corporate culture is built upon “superficial intellect” and the “hollowing out of the spirit.”

The most symbolic is the relationship between Freud and Snail. It is said that when the master of Surrealism, Salvador Dalí, once met Sigmund Freud, he left the bizarre remark, “Freud’s skull is a snail.” Applying this anecdote to Arquebus’s squad formation reveals an extremely grotesque truth. Namely, in the organization known as the Vespers, V.I Freud is merely the “outer shell (skull),” and writhing inside as the organization’s “brain (decision-making organ)” is V.II Snail. Arquebus hoists Freud, who possesses the strongest combat prowess, as the “figurehead” of the squad, but all de facto control is seized by Snail. Freud himself holds no grand cause or ideology, being a hollow vessel that desires only to fight, and Snail utilizes that vessel as a convenient means of attack.

Despite bearing the names of great philosophers and artists, the members of the Vespers lack the personal Existentialism or philosophy worthy of those names. V.VII Swinburne fawns over power and scrambles for self-preservation, while V.VIII Pater harbors a duality (madness) where he pretends to mourn his superior’s death while immediately rejoicing in his own promotion.

The only one who pondered deeply within this system and harbored existential anguish was V.III O’Keeffe. He is a man who accepted the provision of Ninth-Generation surgery from Arquebus to neutralize the brain damage of “Coral burn” caused by his Second-Generation augmentation. He operated as a spy for ALLMIND, but upon learning the truth of Coral Release (the forced dimensional evolution of all humanity), he grew terrified and defected back to the Arquebus side. During his assassination mission, he tells the player: “Slurp your coffee-flavored sludge. Sure, it sucks—but that’s being human.” and “Die as a human. That’s your salvation.” These words of O’Keeffe, filled with resignation, serve as a powerful antithesis to both Arquebus and Snail, who distort humanity through excessive augmentation technology (Transhumanism), and ALLMIND, which seeks to forcibly evolve all of humanity. However, rather than fighting for freedom, he chose the passive existence of “slurping sludge as a mere human” within the system. This despairing attitude of O’Keeffe stands in stark contrast to the arrogance of Snail, who endlessly augments himself, and demonstrates just how much the organization known as the Vespers chips away at the souls of its members.

4. V.II Snail: The Embodiment of Domination and the Victims of “Safe Evolution”

4.1 Records and Testimonies [Facts]

V.II Snail, the de facto ruler of the Vespers, is an entity that seems to boil down Arquebus’s inhumanity and narcissism into a single person. His twisted psychological structure can be clearly read from his Arena profile and his words and actions in the game.

• History of Augmentation Surgeries and Victims: Snail is an Eighth-Generation Augmented Human. However, never satisfied with that, he continues to undergo “readjustments” every time a new augmentation technology becomes mainstream. His profile records the cold fact that “countless Augmented Humans were sacrificed during the trial phases to guarantee his safety.”

• Thorough Contempt for Others: He never treats the player (an Independent Mercenary) or humans from rival factions as equals. In his vocabulary, others are always referred to with derogatory animalistic terms such as “Mutt,” “Vermin,” or “Apes.”

• Discarding Allies (The Death of V.VI Maeterlinck): In the mission “Reach the Coral Convergence,” Snail sends his own V.VI Maeterlinck and the Balam remnant G3 Wu Huahai ahead. Even when they are cornered by the player and cry out in distress, “Snail, respond! We need backup!”, Snail completely ignores them, intentionally leaving them to die. Handler Walter also comments over comms, “Leaving them to die. What a guy.” Snail’s true objective was to have the player clash with the defense weapon (CEL 240) and to wipe them all out from behind at the exact moment both sides were exhausted.

4.2 Philosophical Interpretation and Depths [Analysis]

Conducting an analysis based on the facts, Snail’s essence is “hypertrophied narcissism” and the “thorough externalization of risk (self-preservation).”

He does not hesitate to call himself a “perfectly adjusted Augmented Human,” but that perfection is not due to his own talent or grueling training. It is the result of killing countless lower-ranking pilots as guinea pigs and continuously transplanting only the “latest fruits” whose safety has been completely guaranteed into his own body. This is the worst form of “exploitation” in a capitalist system. He forces all the risks (aftereffects and death) onto those in the lower strata, while monopolizing only the returns (the latest augmentation technology) for himself, an upper-level middle manager. His strength is merely something “purchased” by the financial power and atrocious experimental regime of the Arquebus Corporation.

His action of leaving Maeterlinck to die can also be completely explained within this context of the “externalization of risk.” Maeterlinck was an excellent and obedient pilot with “stable problem-solving abilities” even among the Vespers, but to Snail, even her loyalty was nothing more than a “cheap cost (a sacrificial pawn)” to make the irregular Independent Mercenary (the player) and CEL 240 destroy each other. He is extremely afraid of the risk of getting his own hands dirty, always trying to safely snatch the profits from outside the board.

The words “dog” and “vermin” spat from his mouth are not mere curses. To him, those who obediently serve the system of Arquebus and wear a collar are “dogs,” while free beings who take actions outside the system’s calculations of their own will are “vermin” to be exterminated. The reason he harbors an abnormal hatred and hostility toward C4-621 (the player) is precisely because 621, despite being an Augmented Human like him (and an Old-Generation piece of junk at that), continuously shatters the perfect boards (calculations) he sets up and proves a “free existence” that defies the system. For Snail, an other who produces results beyond his calculations is the greatest terror that threatens his identity as a ruler.

5. The Deception Hidden in the AC “OPEN FAITH” and Its Emblem

5.1 Records and Testimonies [Facts]

The AC configuration and emblem of Snail’s dedicated AC, “OPEN FAITH,” strongly reflect his personality and Arquebus’s technological philosophy.

The name of this craft, “OPEN FAITH,” is written as such in English, but in Japanese katakana, it serves as a double meaning where “Face” and “Faith” are homophones. Furthermore, his personal emblem is an eerie design in which a human face (or a monk’s face) is split vertically, with the exact same inorganic face peering out from within.

5.2 Philosophical Interpretation and Depths [Analysis]

1. The Cowardly Nature Exposed in the Assembly Unraveling the assembly of OPEN FAITH exposes the “fatal contradiction” and “essential cowardice” in Snail’s tactical philosophy to the light of day. This craft possesses an extremely aggressive, “close-range/infight-oriented” armament philosophy: inducing forced discharge with the stun gun and rapidly closing the distance to skewer the enemy with the laser lance. However, the FCS (Fire Control System) actually equipped is an Arquebus model (VE-21B) specialized for “long-range combat.” If close-quarters combat is the primary focus, the rational choice as a pilot would normally be to equip an FCS with excellent close-range lock tracking (such as those made by the rival company Balam).

What can be inferred from this is the fact that he prioritized his “obsession with the brand (blind faith in the corporation)” by decking out his craft in Arquebus’s latest and highest-grade parts (the VE series), thereby abandoning the optimization of his assembly for actual combat. Alternatively, being inherently cowardly, he extremely loathes the risk of “getting close to the enemy and brawling in the mud,” and his deep-seated psychological desire to always attack safely and unilaterally from a distance manifested in his choice of a long-range FCS. His craft is equivalent to a power-holder’s bonsai tree, thoughtlessly stuffed with the “strongest parts on paper,” turning a blind eye to the terrors of actual combat.

2. The Metaphor of the Emblem: The Void and Lobotomy Revealed Even When Peeled Away

The double meaning of “OPEN FAITH” and “Open Face,” along with the emblem design of a splitting face, symbolize two dark aspects of the character Snail.

The first metaphor is his “duality and void.” Beneath the “public face” of his condescendingly polite and gentlemanly tone hides a “hideous true face” that looks down on others and would leave even his subordinates to die for his own benefit. However, even if that true face is peeled away, only the same inorganic and arrogant face emerges from within. It indicates a psychological vacuum where no unique ideology or philosophy exists within him; no matter how many times the skin of his face is peeled back, there is only the repetition of an empty narcissism that simply wants to “stand superior to others.”

The second, and more cruel interpretation, is that this directly metaphorizes his deeds at the Arquebus Re-education Center (AREC) which he oversees—namely, the “physical and psychological incision of the head (brainwashing and mental modification).” He literally and physically pries open the heads (Faces) of others and surgically force-injects an absolute belief (Faith) in the corporation. To Snail, faith and loyalty are not the result of an individual’s intrinsic mental activity, but merely data to be “poured in” from the outside by opening the skull. This emblem is a bloodstained trophy flaunting just how many Rubiconians and Independent Mercenaries he has psychologically dismantled.

6. The Fall of the Hollow God: The Existential Irony of “I am Arquebus”

6.1 Records and Testimonies [Facts]

In the late stages of the story, on the “Liberator of Rubicon” route, Snail abandons his dedicated AC OPEN FAITH and stands in the player’s way aboard the captured and modified massive weapon, the “AAP07A: ARQUEBUS BALTEUS.” This is a craft created by thoroughly and monstrously modifying the Balteus, which was the PCA’s main unmanned craft, with Arquebus’s advanced suite of energy weapons.

During the battle, Snail is enraged, and his usual calm demeanor has completely collapsed. He screams at the player: “Vermin! The traitorous V.IV. The incompetent higher-ups. And above all, the Rubiconian vermin scattering sparks… Every last one of you… irritates me…! Die and grovel! I AM Arquebus!”

When defeated after a fierce battle, as his craft is engulfed in flames and crumbles, he reveals a furious anger that his calculations went awry, rather than a fear of his own death. Leaving behind the long, agonizing scream, “No… I…am… ARQUEBUS! One…last…plan… EAAARGH!”, he perishes in an explosion.

6.2 Philosophical Interpretation and Depths (Analysis)

Snail’s final moments are depicted in an extremely literary and philosophical manner as the process by which the self-deception he harbored completely collapses.

1. The Snail Retreating into Its Shell His action of abandoning OPEN FAITH, which was his symbol, to board the massive weapon ARQUEBUS BALTEUS—protected by thick Pulse Armor and overwhelming firepower—signifies that out of the terror of being repeatedly thwarted by the player, he retreated into a safer, more robust “shell.” Here, for the first time, the true meaning of his callsign “Snail” is fully exposed. He is a mollusk that dresses itself up at the expense of others, lacking even the courage to face an irregular with his own body (OPEN FAITH) alone.

2. The Complete Loss of Identity Embedded in “I am Arquebus” His final scream, “I am Arquebus,” is one of the greatest ironies in the game. Snail was under the illusion that he was the supreme decision-maker of Arquebus, an absolute god manipulating everything on the board. However, in reality, he is nothing more than a middle manager dispatched by the higher-ups (the “incompetent higher-ups” as he calls them) and entrusted with executing operations on Rubicon.

He has no long-held earnest wish like Handler Walter, no grand cause to save Rubicon like Rusty, and no will for self-determination like C4-621. His identity was only established by “hiding behind the power and title of the massive corporation known as Arquebus.” That is precisely why, standing on the brink of death, the moment all power and calculations were stripped away, the words that came out of him were not the cry of an individual soul, but the bravado of “I am the corporation (the system itself).” From the perspective of Existentialism, he had never once lived “his own life (existence).” Because he had completely assimilated (parasitized) his ego into the “essence” of the corporation, when the veneer of corporate approval peeled off, nothing was left but an “empty self that is nobody.”

3. “One Last Plan”: The Complete Defeat to Human Free Will The “One last plan” he mentions in his death throes was to send Handler Walter—who had been re-educated and brainwashed—after 621 in the HAL 826 during the final mission immediately following. Snail believed that even after his death, he could surely eliminate the player through the technology of “re-education,” which strips away human will and makes them function as tools of the system (the corporation).

However, that plan also falls through. Walter resists the severe auditory hallucinations and agony caused by the brainwashing, and at the end of their engagement, he recognizes the presence of the “friend” (Ayre) beside 621, lowering his gun of his own free will (an affirmation of choice and humanity). The “system that remakes others into cogs,” which Snail viewed as absolute, suffered a complete defeat before the “will to care for others and make choices” that humans never let go of in the end.

Conclusion: The Ghost of the Regime and the Preciousness of “Choice” Sprouting in the Ashes

V.II Snail, and the entity known as Arquebus Corporation that he embodied, are the very “inhuman system” itself that the player must confront in the work ARMORED CORE VI FIRES OF RUBICON.

They abused Transhumanism (Augmented Human technology) not as an expansion of human potential, but as a means to strip humans of their free will and downgrade them into parts subordinate to the corporation. Snail consumed the lives of countless brethren for his own “safe updates,” subjected those he disliked to a lobotomy in the name of re-education, and viewed the lives of others only as pawns on a board.

However, at the end of that thorough rationalism and cold system construction, what he obtained was the void of being nothing more than a snail retreating into the robust shell of the corporation, and the complete loss of his own identity. The “perfect assembly” he designed harbored the contradiction of long and close range, and the “perfect brainwashing” he created was easily broken before human bonds and will.

V.II Snail’s overwhelming arrogance, and the petty mentality hidden behind it, function as an extremely important contrast that backlights the underlying theme of this work: “the will to kindle the fire (carving out the future through one’s own choices).” By depicting how miserably someone who parasitizes the system and robs others of their choices perishes screaming, the structure makes the nobility and weight of C4-621 (Raven)—who was once an Old-Generation Augmented Human that merely followed orders—ultimately “choosing” the future of Rubicon of their own free will stand out all the more.

Arquebus displayed its mighty power as an Extraterrestrial Corporation, but what they ultimately left behind in the ashes of Rubicon were only the scorched remains of state-of-the-art technology and the unsightly record of a single man who screamed his own name as a ghost of the corporation. That is the cruel truth proven by the history of Rubicon: a system without a will can never shoot down a single Raven taking flight with its existence on the line.