BB-28

Sam, it’s Die-Hardman! This article or following section will contain full, or partial plot spoilers! Please proceed with caution.

BB-28
Other names	BB Lou Louise
Gender	Female
Hair color	Bald (DS) Blonde (DS2)
Eye color	Green
Status	Body(ha) (deceased) Soul(ka) (active)
Base of operation	Peripatetic (with Sam)
Affiliation	Bridges(formerly) Drawbridge
Occupation	Bridge baby
Notable family	Sam (adoptive father)
Appearance(s)	Death Stranding Death Stranding 2: On the Beach

BB-28, later known as Lou and Louise, is the bridge baby encountered, and later used, by Sam during his expeditions.

Story

Assignment to Sam

BB-28 was initially assigned to Igor Frank of Bridges Corpse Disposal. Igor, Sam and another member of corpse disposal were in charge of cremating a necrotizing suicide victim's body in an incinerator nearby. The truck they were driving was caught by the timefall and are forced to deviate into a BT-infested area. While BB activates Igor's odradek, for an unknown reason it does not properly detect BTs in the area, much to Igor's disappointment. When the truck overturned, Igor was forced to shoot his fellow member of corpse disposal, who had been captured and was being carried away, in an attempt to stop him from causing a voidout. Igor then tossed BB-28 to Sam before he was captured himself and shortly consumed by a colossal BT, causing a voidout. For some reason BB remains unscathed despite the explosion, possibly due to Sam's repatriate abilities.

For failing to save its operative, BB-28 is scheduled for cremation and is unknowingly taken by Sam to an incinerator along with President Bridget Strand's corpse. However, upon realizing the BB is still alive, Sam defies the order and soon after establishes a trance connection with the infant to escape a group of beached things that had surrounded the incinerator following the increase of chiralium in the area. After Sam returns to Capital Knot City, Deadman recalibrates BB-28 and gives the infant back to Sam to help him on his next expedition: reconnecting the nodes of the Chiral Network and thus reconnecting America. At the same time Sam searches for a stillmother to connect to in order to extend BB-28’s operational life, almost to the limit.

Realignment

Throughout Sam's journey, BB-28 starts to become increasingly attached to Sam, who eventually begins to affectionately refer to the infant as "Lou" (short for Louise) – the name he and his late wife were going to give their unborn daughter. Lou is eventually taken from Sam by Deadman, who states that the infant requires realignment between the worlds of the living and dead after having veered too far towards the former by bonding with Sam, a factor that could not only create problems for its functions but also dangerous for the world. Furthermore, Deadman reveals that the realignment procedure may erase Lou's memories, but that failing to perform the procedure would result in Lou reaching the end of her functionality within merely days following. During a supercell event Sam, Deadman and Lou are transported to the war-torn Beach, where Cliff is still looking for "his BB".

When Deadman returns Lou to Sam, Lou seems to be more bonded with Deadman than Sam after hiding with him in the sewers, but after interacting with Sam again Lou's connection with Sam is eventually rekindled. This connection is later displayed when Lou controls Sam's odradek to protect him from gunfire received from Higgs at the end of their battle in Edge Knot City. Here Higgs not only taunts Lou for her actions towards a repatriate, he also shoots the pod, worsening Lou's condition.

One last delivery

When a decommissioning order comes through for Lou to be incinerated, Deadman mentions that Sam may try removing Lou from her BB pod to "see what happens", in direct contravention of an executive order. Sam then takes Lou to the nearest incinerator.

Sam and Lou in the sunshine

At the Incinerator West of Capital Knot City, having relived his memories from BB and thus aware of the effects, Sam removes Lou from the pod and frantically attempts to stimulate activity in the lifeless infant. With a spectral umbilical cord forming tethered to Lou and other infant BTs floating above the two, a dejected Sam holds Lou in his embrace. To Sam's surprise, Lou lets out a fussy cry, and after looking at Lou he notices the infant holding a Quipu. Though many UCA members in the final scenes wore a Quipu pin, the Quipu that Lou is holding in her hands has chains, an indication that Amelie brought Lou back to life (as Amelie was wearing a Quipu as a necklace). Together, Sam leaves the incinerator and cradles Lou in an ending drizzle of rain that bears no effects of timefall. Just as sunlight breaks through, an ordinary rainbow forms above them.

After the Last Stranding

Some time later after leaving Bridges, Sam, holding Lou in his hands, says "Lou...Louise...", evoking a reaction from Lou. For two and a half years, Lou grows up and lives with Sam in a private shelter, occasionally accompanying the porter outside. In the 2022 TGA teaser for Death Stranding 2, Lou is seen under the care of Fragile, presumably alone together in a bunker. Lou shows signs of growth, being much chubbier and sporting a full head of hair, wearing tiny wings on her baby clothes. Lou's original pod is now used as a terrarium for cryptobiotes. The bunker goes into emergency mode as it is attacked by an unknown group. Fragile, securing the child in a carrier on her chest, manages to evade the attackers and reach the entrance of the shelter, where she attempts to escape on a motorized unicycle. As she speeds away from the shelter, Fragile is wounded from behind via gunfire, causing her to lose control and crash the bike. In the wake of the crash, Fragile is shown crawling towards a crying Lou on the ground. Lou eventually stops crying and lies still, indicating that she has passed, possibly from a gunshot wound, the same way Sam had died when he was a BB.

But, while her physical body (ha) dies, for some reason her soul (ka) remains attached to the world of the living. A BT emerges in the repurposed BB pod, with tiny flying wings to indicate that it is in fact Lou in the pod, now a BT. The 2024 State of Play trailer for Death Stranding 2 shows Lou resuming her old role as a BB, helping Sam in his new expedition for Drawbridge, even going so far as to control a katana-wielding bot and face a revived Higgs seeking revenge to save Sam.

Interactions

There are several actions Sam can perform to increase his connection level with Lou.

1. Soothing – Sam may rock Lou to pacify her. If Lou is already calm, she will perform playful gestures to Sam.
2. Private room interaction – Sam may interact with Lou in private rooms to increase his connection level with the infant. Occasionally, Sam will have nightmares of Lou. Notable among these are one in which Lou turns around to face Sam bearing the disconcerting face of Deadman; and another where after a playful exchange with Sam of tapping its BB pod's glass, Lou will irately headbutt herself free by breaking through the glass.
3. Playing "BB's Theme" to Lou – Sam may whistle the song to Lou while walking or resting in-place. You can preform this action by pressing the button to "Call out", while resting. After receiving the harmonica from the Musician, Sam may play the song to Lou on the instrument while resting.

Actions that increase Sam's connection level with Lou include:

1. Running fast and jumping
2. Urinating
3. Going across zip-lines
4. Playing music
5. Escaping BTs without confronting them
6. Reaching maximum speeds with a vehicle
7. Giving likes to other players
8. Having structures used by others
9. Passing through a "Good work, BB" sign
10. Killing giant BT's

Actions that increase Lou's stress levels include:

1. Killing enemies.
2. Taking damage from enemies
3. Falling from great heights
4. Getting too close to or dragged by BTs
5. Being swept away by deep river currents
6. Submerging her BB pod in water

Notes

• Lou releases heart shaped bubbles in her BB pod.
• Lou will become dismissive of Sam in private rooms if he becomes inebriated from drinking Timefall Porters.
• At the end of the game Lou will say her first word: Quipu
• A heart shaped birthmark can be seen on Lou's left elbow.
• If Sam stimulate Lou enough before entering a BT area, her ability of detecting BTs will increase considerably (In the Director's Cut edition).
• Sam first refers to BB-28 as Lou at the beginning of episode 6, and from that point all instances of "BB" in Death Stranding's user interface are replaced.
• In the post-ending scene Lou's hand and arm appear larger showing that she is getting bigger under Sam's care.
• The scene where Lou is wearing tiny wings on her baby clothes, possibly evoking the modern image of the biblical cherubim.