0 Plant

0 Plant (Japanese: 0プラント 0 Puranto) was a location in the fictional universe of Cyber Troopers Virtual-On.

It was an R&D facility where the OverTechnology found on the lunar surface by the DN Corp. was studied and reverse-engineered, leading to the development of the very first Virtuaroids.

Details[]

0 Plant Established[]

"0 Plant", a secret institution of archaeological research. The Moongate was thought to be a device that enabled entry into and out of a different space known as the Cyber Imaginary Space (C.I.S.). The V-Project was initiated to promote research into the C.I.S. by applying the OverTechnology hidden in the ruins.

V.C.0087[]

The situation reaches a new phase. The survey of "0 Plant", an OverTechnology analysis agency with a large purpose in restoring the Moongate, discovered a gigantic humanoid structure and remnants. The head unit was alive...

Gate to Different Space "Moongate"[]

The discovery of the Virtual-On phenomenon by V-Crystal has become one beginning. As a result of the team's survey research, the original function of the ruins was dimly discovered. The V-Crystal fixed within the track was a presence to form a singularity or gate field which enables one to enter or exit a very different space that would come to be known as the "Cyber Imaginary Space". When the activity level of the crystal exceeds the threshold value, the entrance, referred to as the "gate field", is opened. And the track itself had the ability to amplify the activity of the V-Crystal. The unique cylindrical structure was a shape that was optimized to form a gate field inside.

The ruins had then become to be known as the "Moongate". Ruins with the same structure and role as the Moongate were likely to exist in many other places, and it was forecast that there was some transfer activity between ruins in view of its structural characteristics. At present, the V-Crystal itself is in a semi-dormant state and has lost activity level, and the function of the artifact cannot be ruled out. However, if the function could be successfully regenerated and controlled, various applications such as material transfer between the gates could be possible via the Cyber Imaginary Space. The DN Corp. knew that they had a very big business opportunity.

Establishment of 0 Plant - Moongate analysis investigation[]

The highest executive committee, DN's decision-making body, instructed to conceal any OverTechnology (OT) discovered from the Moongate. By monopolizing it and putting it to practical use, it attempted to stand in an advantageous position against other competing forces. In V.C.86, they decided to establish at secret research facility dedicated to analyzing the OT with the aim of restoring the Moongate. This facility, which would be called "0 Plant", was given a massive budget, state-of-the-art equipment, and the best researchers were gathered. Research activity was done day and night.

Of course, the task of imbuing the obtained knowledge to the practical level was not easy. In order to restore the functionality of the Moongate, it is essential to restore the functionality of the V-Crystal, but the analysis survey of the Cyber Imaginary Space (hereafter referred to as C.I.S.) required to construct the basic theory was not progressing as expected.

The existence form of the event is different between the real space in which a human exists, and the C.I.S. where the human intervention exists. It was theoretically predicted that the V-Crystal converts the event data so that it could be transferred to the different space. It was an important issue to understand the conversion function, but this required an accurate recognition of the C.I.S. However, the initial C.I.S. where the discovery of the Virtual-On phenomenon became the beginning and its existence confirmed was found to be of a very unstable that formed under the irregular condition of the V-Crystal's dormant state. What is truly needed to know is the general C.I.S., which was only observable via the V-Crystal under complete living conditions. It is impossible to build a theory that sounds corresponsive to the general C.I.S. without somehow activating the V-Crystal. However, as mentioned above, the objective of 0 Plant was to activate the V-Crystal, which required analysis of the C.I.S.

The research activity was at a standstill.

Bal, Bas, Bow...[]

In V.C.87, the situation reached a new phase. At the time of the fourth excavation survey of the Moongate, a massive humanoid structure and remnants were discovered from special investigation area DD-38. The relic measured 50 meters in length and was severely worn out, with only the head barely holding onto the prototype. 0 Plant recovered it and initiated structural and functional analysis.

A strange fact became clear before long. In the head unit, what would essentially be referred to as a "small V-Crystal" was incorporated into it. It was tightly wrapped in an outer shell structure made of an unknown material, and the crystalline body seemed unable to exert its mental interference function to the exterior. The staff had an interest in the outer shell material that can block the crystal's function, and at the same time, thought that this unit could be used to collect valid data.

It was found early on in the investigation that the "living" sensor array existed within the small part of the head unit. And at a certain moment, it was confirmed that the crystal responds autonomously to the intervention of these sensor groups. Although very rarely, it has been replying to the syllable structure in the audible range to various analysis investigations carried out by the staff. They are recognized as random repeating linking structures of three syllables, and the staff approximated

"ｂａｌ"　"ｂａｓ"　"ｂｏｗ"

and the notation is distinguished.

This was a landmark situation. Of course, it was unknown what these speech patterns mean, but for the first time, they were able to get a clear response of causality from the crystal. The staff came to call this head unit the "BAL-BAS-BOW unit" (hereafter referred to as the BBB unit).

People excited of the BBB unit's discovery[]

With the discovery of this speech response, the research of the BBB unit began to advance at a rapid pace. Identification of survival sensors in the unit, analysis of its functions. And the structural decoupling of the crystal body through these sensor groups. The accumulation of data went smoothly, and people learned various facts. Of particular note is that the crystal fixed within the BBB unit was not genuinely a V-Crystal. Someone who created the BBB unit in the past has attempted to replicate the V-Crystal and completed it. They had secured their own duplicate crystals by using special materials that block the mental interference function of the V-Crystal, and had acquired the ability of controlling them.

Perhaps, it was possible to manipulate the data converting function and the gate opening/closing function possessed by the crystal at will, and even free entrance into the C.I.S. was possible. Their purpose was unknown, and their relationship with the creator of the Moongate remained unclear (why they might be ruined).

But for those who were absorbed in their discoveries, such things were outside the scope of interest.

V-Project failures and changes[]

The Moongate restoration project was activated. But no one knew that its major purpose would someday be replaced by the development of the new weapon "Virtuaroid".

Activating the project[]

The BBB unit had the ability to arbitrarily convert its own data by controlling the special function of the contained crystal core, and to freely enter and leave the C.I.S. with it. Because of this special function, the BBB unit, and the previous humanoid structure of which it was the head, became known as the "Virtuaroid".

It seemed impossible to restore the Virtuaroid itself, but it appeared to be likely that there was a possibility of restoration for the head. If the regeneration and control of the head succeeds, it would be possible to enter the C.I.S. by human intervention. Then, the analysis survey on the C.I.S. would proceed and the resurgence of the Moongate would become a reality.

In V.C.88, DN Corp.'s highest executive committee is confident that the restoration work on the BBB unit "Virtuaroid" was the most important goal to achieve conversion into the C.I.S., and decided to tackle this goal with the utmost effort. For that purpose, the special initiative, the "V-Project", was activated.

0 Plant was designated as a facility dedicated to the V-Project, and special treatment measures were taken. As a result, the plant became huge and eventually began to have a strange influence within DN. By freeing the Virtuaroid restoration effort to a large amount of the budget, they responded to various decisions within the development phase, even refusing the intervention of the highest executive committee. But this rapid expansion would quickly result in their decline.

V-Converter[]

Structural analysis of the built-in crystal via the "survival" sensor attached to the BBB unit revealed that this crystal was indeed in a dying state for a long time due to malfunction. 0 Plant decided to develop a system that would partially support its function to keep the activity of the crystal at the current level prior to the Virtuaroid's regeneration. This is an attempt to imitate the crystal structure. Of course, in the existing level of technology, it is impossible to create such a thing. However, they felt a certain positive response to the ruins' OT that they gained and accumulated. Basic research continued steadily until it finally produced some results at this time, although it was limited to some functions, it has become possible to simulate the V-Crystal to some degree. In addition, the measures to respond to the mental interference effect, which had been known since the discovery of the Moongate, had begun to appear. By elucidating the material of the BBB unit's outer shell structure, it became theoretically possible to produce structural materials that could block the mental interference effects.

One cannot make the V-Crystal itself. In the first place, the material itself was not a substitute that can be artificially created. However, substances with nearly the same properties are collected in large quantities from the site, and the structural characteristics of the so-called "V-Crystal" have been found to some extent. For this reason, it was not impossible to artificially create something with partially similar functions.

Thus the development of the Crystal Core Support System - later to be called the V-Converter - began. The first prototype, which was completed without repeated trial and error, had a shape that was not very similar to the original V-Crystal. The crystal quality is evenly applied to a huge disc, which is encapsulated within a box frame composed of newly-developed structural materials. After that, when it is activated with a special load, the crystal quality on the V-Disc started its own reconfiguration as if it had autonomous will, and it formed the black box unit which was impossible to analyze with human intervention.

Because of the special fabrication process, the V-Converter was often "hit or miss". If the reconstruction-by-crystal process does not proceed well, it will not be usable. Most especially, the efficiency for mass production in the beginning period was the worst, and it was said that 1 in 300 units would work properly.

And M.S.B.S.[]

The V-Converter is a partial copy of the V-Crystal, and forms a gate field like the original. Then, it consecutively captures and buffers the human mind data under the influence, and based on that, it starts the behavioral emulation of the person him/herself. Of course, if this phenomenon is left untreated, human beings are absorbed into persons as a former V-Crystal and become disused. For this reason, an effective V-Converter control OS was required. It was the Mind Shift Battle System (M.S.B.S.) that was the first and leading candidate to come out among various candidates.

The M.S.B.S was an OS for battle weapons based on mental control whose necessity was pointed out in the XMU project, and prototypes were completed by V.C.7e. However, at the technical level at that time, the XMU project did not get the performance they expected, and the development work was interrupted, leading to the discontinuation of the project. However, within 0 Plant, there were many staff members who were involved in the XMU project. They pointed out that M.S.B.S. control is possible if the V-Crystal/V-Converter only responds to the mental waves (although this in itself was a serious mystery). The V-Converter connection experiment of the system which was carried out before long showed good results that were incompatible with those which had been previously tested so far. The M.S.B.S. blocks the V-Converter's activity every minute of the unit to prevent excessive Virtual-On phenomenon. The mind data absorbed by this became a minute part corresponding to minute time, and the time when human consciousness was lost can be kept to the extent that does not hinder the activity. By doing this, human beings have finally grabbed the clue to control OT products at will. Of course, there was also a drawback in M.S.B.S. V-Converter control. This system, which was originally a combat weapon operating system, was premised on forcing the spirit of human beings and the control system of weapons by mind connection. This forced the parties to excite the tense state of combat and to maintain it. As a result, the mental burden on the operator has increased dramatically. The mind connection over a long period of time always faces the danger of collapse of consciousness, and when a single person with the average mental strength was to do the same, the connection was limited to 90 seconds. Also, as of ver.1.66 or later, due to the nature of the system that depends on the converter, the performance has largely been influenced by the Virtual-On aptitude of the operator. As a result, smooth operation of the system cannot be expected if the appropriate value is low.

Meanwhile, as for the existence of the "self-consciousness" derived from the crystal quality in the V-Converter, which had been confirmed from the initial stage of development, the survey did not progress much. If the V-Converter succeeds in activating the BBB unit by connecting the converter, there was a possibility that the converter under the influence of the M.S.B.S. could take on dangerous behavior in response to the crystal inside the unit. In this case, there was no guarantee whether mankind could successfully control it, but precautionary measures such as this were not taken especially.

V. BBB unit start-up experiment[]

The first start-up experiment[]

In V.C.8f, the Virtuaroid's first launch was made. The BBB unit was put upside-down and affixed to the experimental platform, and it was sealed tightly. The V-Converter, which is an auxiliary device of the crystal core, was directly inserted into the first pole of the medulla oblongata area (and the base of the neck, which is referred to as provisional). In addition, a temporary cockpit was installed at the second pole of the medulla oblongata. Several operators of various systems under M.S.B.S. control had gone aboard.

This launch experiment, which seemed to have been conducted under full preparedness, however, had ended in a tragic failure. The situation which had been feared has become a reality. The V-Converter connected to the BBB unit was overdriven by the operators' shaky feelings, causing a malfunction in the M.S.B.S. As a result, the built-in crystal core of the BBB unit formed a C.I.S. rush funnel outside the unit and 0 Plant was forcibly transferred into the C.I.S. Many excellent scientists went missing because of the transfer accident that sent them into the C.I.S. Since the accident itself had proceeded with absolute silence and no impact, there was nothing to be noticed at all from the outside. However, DN had suffered immense physical/human damage.

After all, the BBB unit was a substitute that could not be handled by a fly. The highest executive committee was to be made aware of the sweetness of their own outlook. Control experiments continued patiently afterwards, but they were unable to achieve the desired result. The third launch experiment of using prototype no. 7, which took place in V.C.91, had the expectations of great surroundings, but also ended in a defeat. In frustration, the highest executive committee determined that the V-Project would not be a profitable venture, so a notification was sent to 0 Plant of an abort order. However, in regards to the V-Converter, the need for work to raise the degree of its completion was recognized, and limited business continuity was permitted.

Discovery of the Reverse-Conversion phenomenon[]

In V.C.92, there was a discovery that is too coincidental and innovative. "The Reverse-Conversion phenomenon due to self-reconfiguration of the V-Converter." But, that discovery may be one of the mistakes made by mankind...

0 Plant to downsize[]

0 Plant was forced to suspend all development work that it had previously done. Eleven years had past since the plant was established, and seven years since the V-Project was initiated.

In the meantime, although there were various harvests, it was the BBB unit after all. Many personnel were lost due to repeated experiments, failed experiments, and the scale of the facilities had also shrunk. In addition, sanctions set by the highest executive committee due to the project's failure worsened the weakening of the plant. Within the drastically cut budget framework, there was no room to tackle large-scale research and development anymore. However, the motivation of the remaining staff members remained high, and now the technological level as at the top within DN.

In fact, even after devoting themselves to fundamental research on V-Converters, they have made a number of outstanding achievements. Especially, the discovery of the Reverse-Conversion phenomenon and its application are the best among their accomplishments, and considering the magnitude of the influence given to posterity, in some form before discussing the merits and demerits of their achievements, a positive evaluation should be given.

Reverse-Convert[]

In V.C.91, since the failure of the third start-up experiment, 0 Plant continued warming up one idea. They were considering the possibility of C.I.S. rush by V-Converter alone. Certainly, the potential of the BBB unit is much higher than that of a V-Converter made by human hands imitating it. That said, however, the benefits are greater in terms of safety than those that are difficult to deal with, the ones that are dangerous to handle. They made a strange unit called the "C.I.S. rush boat" and started a steady research activity. There was no remarkable progress, so officials weren't as anxious. They had absolute confidence in their abilities and the possibilities. However, the problem of finance is serious, and by the time that V.C.92 came around, the budget bottomed out. They have become inconvenienced to the cost of crystal mining, which is the raw material for the new V-Disc for experimentation.

One day, one of the researchers tried to explore the method of reusing the V-Converter that was marked "get in" for disposal. He disassembled the V-Converter, collected the V-Disc part, added secondary information to it, set it into a box frame for a new converter unit. At first, nothing happened. Therefore, they tried to increase the load gradually. A miracle occurred when the output was set to three times the normal load. The V-Converter suddenly shifted to a high activation state, and instantaneously created a strange structure around itself with intense autonomous heat dissipation reaction. The researchers were astonished by the sudden situation, but they knew what was emerging from the void. It was a temporary cockpit used for prototype no.3 used in the second start-up experiment of the BBB unit. It was based on the cockpit's structural data that they playfully added to the V-Disc.

"If you add the appropriate data to the V-Disc and incorporating it into a box frame, the V-Converter will reconfigure while making the corresponding object tangible around you!"

People called this a reverse-convert phenomenon associated with the self-reconfiguration of the V-Converter, or Reverse-Conversion for short.

Although the materialized cockpit itself had collapsed and disappeared after several hours, the impact that this experiment's result had on people was significant. Although the casual relationship of the occurrence of the phenomenon is unknown, is it not usable for something? Is it not that you can get anything if you write what you want on the V-Disc?

M.S.B.S. ver.2 series development[]

Of course, the fact was not that simple. First of all, the V-Disc to be used had to be "taken out". Naturally, the "V-Converter = convenient treasure chest" illusion dissipated early because it was not possible to sacrifice one life for every Reverse-Conversion of one thing. Moreover, it did not respond too much to "reckless" data. The material of the composition which cannot exist in this world was unable to be materialized, and, for instance, the capacity of the V-Converter was too small to generate something as large as a "black hole". Additionally, when the load applied during Reverse-Conversion is small, the materialized object was not stabilized in real space and it would disappear immediately.

In the progress of the analysis investigation, a solution was found for the V-Discs to be used. "Vocabulary" V-Discs were those objectively processed by human spirit, that is, "mind formatted". The methodology of the V-Disc mind format was found within a relatively short period of time, and the development of a new version of the M.S.B.S. was started based on this. It is a so-called M.S.B.S. ver.2 series.

However, objects that can be Reverse-Converted were limited in the contrary. In the first place, the M.S.B.S. was developed as the control OS for the humanoid fighting robot which was planned in the XMU project. A system optimized to the limit was poor in conformity to anything other than combat weapons. As long as the V-Converter is controlled by the M.S.B.S., it is difficult to derive a level of activation that is Reverse-Convertible, even if data other than weapons, and even non-combative robots, is written to the V-Converter.

XMU project revisited[]

In this way, the characteristics of Reverse-Conversion are being empirically recognized, and the way to apply this in some form has been sought. At this time, a Reverse-Conversion experiment of the humanoid robot which was planned in the XMU project was proposed. Since the V-Converter is a unit derived from OT, there are many uncertainties indeed. However, it is under the strong influence of it by the height of its peculiar compatibility with the M.S.B.S. If one is considering Reverse-Conversion as a true practical technique, is it not faster to try using the data of the combat robot whose development was planned on the premise that the M.S.B.S. will be used in the first place?

Despite somewhat rough interference, this proposal was put into execution. Two models that were planned in the XMU project were selected as the material of the test fuselage, and development codes such as XMU-04 and XMU-05 were chosen.

Virtuaroids[]

VR-014 Fei-Yen Prototype
MBV-04 Temjin
HBV-05 Raiden
SDK/04 Shadow 04 (presumably)
TRV-06 Viper series up to TRV-06k-H Viper II

Trivia[]

In the Dreamcast version of Oratorio Tangram, if you go through the voice data in the sound test, there is a voice clip saying 0 Plant's name.
- This suggests that there was going to be a map in the game that would have taken place at 0 Plant.
0 Plant is based in the terminal city of Saiga, which is located near Central Asia.
0 Plant is recognized as the founder of the concept of Plants, the autonomous organizations run by the technocrats of the Virtual Century.
The original Fei-Yen prototype was created by Dr. Plajiner at 0 Plant.
Cyber Troopers Virtual-On: Scrambling Concerto marks what may be the only time in the franchise where 0 Plant makes a visual appearance.