Alone, we have no future.
– Bridget
Bridget Strand was the former President of the United States of America, founder of Bridges and after the Death Stranding, the President of the United Cities of America up and until her death. She was the "ha" (body) of the sixth extinction entity, the "biological mother" of Samantha America Strand and the adoptive mother of Sam Strand.
Story[]
Background[]
In her twenties, Bridget was the victim of uterine cancer. During the operation she was split across two worlds: her soul woke up on the Beach while her body remained in the hospital bed. Eventually, Bridget would name her stranded "ka" Amelie. Due to the unique conditions of the Beach, Amelie did not age, and Bridget, who began to grow old, would deflect suspicion by claiming that Amelie was her daughter, who suffer a debilitating condition and an absent father.
While at the beginning Bridget thought that her condition was a curse, later on she began to use it to understand the Beach, the nightmares of past ancient extinctions and visions of the future. When Bridget realized that the Beach was connected to the world of the dead, and that the memories of time were somewhere beyond it too, the concept of the Chiral Network was born. At an unknown time Bridget became the Vice-president of the United States of America.
Presidency and research on the Beach[]
Shortly after the initial research on the Beach, America was hit by the first voidout and during this the original President died, making Bridget the first female President of the United States. Feeling that she was out of time she raced to complete the chiral network as quickly as possible. She ordered research on the so called Bridge Babies, or BB, unborn children bound to the world of dead, to continue in secret, while publicly she put an end to all further BB experiments and had all data destroyed. Determined to complete the chiral network and to stop the next and final extinction, Bridget founded Bridges. During this time Bridget began to wear a mask to conceal her appearance during visits to the BB research installations.
When Cliff Unger was cornered after his attempted to escape with his BB, chosen for its potential as a first sacrifice for the future network, Bridget ordered her special advisor and security guard John Blake McClane, an old comrade of Cliff, to shoot him. After his hesitation she pulled the trigger instead, shooting Cliff twice and inadvertently shooting BB as well, killing him. Amelie would then encounter the BB's soul on the Beach, and would use her powers to bring him back to life. Bridget then chose to decommission the BB, instead raising him as her own child and naming him Sam.
After the Death Stranding[]
After the Death Stranding occurred and caused the United States to deteriorate as a country, she helped form the United Cities of America. It was Bridget's vision for America to be made whole again, and thus, she was a primary catalyst for the UCA's plan to reconnect all cities under the Chiral Network. When the DOOMS, which she spread to the world years earlier in an attempt to understand her visions, began to afflict Sam's wife, through her unborn child, Bridget revealed the whole truth to the Sam's wife who, unable to accept it, committed suicide, causing a voidout in which Sam was the only survivor, causing him to abandon Bridges. With Sam, who Bridget knew was the only one who could prevent the latest extinction, she set a long-term plan in motion.
A bedridden Bridget tried in vain to convince Sam to join her cause
Some time thereafter, Bridget began suffering from the final stages of uterine cancer which occurred in her 20s, rendering her bedridden in a chiralgram of the Oval Office at the Bridges Isolation Ward in Central Knot City. She was reunited with Sam after he was given a request by Deadman to deliver her morphine. She attempted to convince Sam to join her in her mission to reconnect America, but he was reluctant to do so. During her final, desperate plea to convince Sam, she crawled out of her bed towards him, causing her to disconnect from her medical monitors and respirator. She eventually succumbed to her affliction in front of Sam, causing Bridges' medical staff to urgently arrive in an attempt to assist her, accompanied by other prominent members of the organization.
Before her death, she "made a contract" with Sam, unbeknownst to him, requiring him to assist the UCA and Bridges in their goal to reconnect America. Die-Hardman and Deadman then request that Sam cremate her body at the incinerator west of Capital Knot City before her body enters necrosis, as the earlier voidout left them with no corpse disposal team, which Sam reluctantly agrees to do.
Eventually her attempt to save the world from the Last Stranding, reunite the UCA in the chiral network and reconcile with Sam comes to fruition.
Physical Description[]
Bridget Strand is presented as a middle-aged, white woman between 45 and 60 years with blue eyes and greying blonde hair. Years later, due to her cancer, her appearance has deteriorated, with her hair thinned and all but lost due to chemotherapy.
As President Strand, Amelie wears a white formal suit with a skirt, a pink kerchief, a silver watch in her left hand, black stockings and white heel shoes. She uses glasses and, occasionally, the BR-10-14P-9999 LUDENS mask in order to preserve her identity during the visits to the BB research installations. Later, when she falls ill due to her disease, she wears a white nightgown and pink bandana very similar to the kerchief that she used years ago.
Personality[]
There's no much information about Bridget personality, but she looks like a decided and a very strong person considering that she was probably the first woman to become president of the United States, the first president of the UCA after the Death Stranding caused the country to deteriorate and organizes the expeditions through the devastated country and construct the cities all over, reunited the America with the Chiral Network.
In the personal aspect she seems like a nice and calm person, with the citizens in general have a positive image of her as a president. Even though she adopted and raised Sam Porter, her time-consuming responsibilities perhaps prevented her from afford sufficient attention to him, she loves him but whether or not Sam perceived her mother's love is a cause for doubt. During a meeting with Lucy, she frankly expressed deep regret for her failure to engage with Sam, physically and emotionally, as a mother should do, admitting that her daughter Amelie, had mostly taken care of Sam in her absence, and that their time spent together there may be related to Sam's condition, indicating not only awareness but also a sense of guilt towards him. She was also pleased with the newly relationship of Sam and Lucy.
Bridget however was also manipulative if it served to accomplish her goals, such as continually lying to Cliff Unger about the legal and physical status of his son, and with his own adoptive son Sam, practically forcing him to deliver her morphine to put him so "under contract" with Bridges.
Abilities[]
- Decelerated Aging: As noted by Heartman, Bridget appeared to age more slowly than normal humans. It is hypothesized that her strong connection to the Beach kept her from being fully connected to the passage of time.
Notes[]
- Bridget was first introduced in the release date reveal trailer. She was, however, featured indirectly in the E3 2018 trailer via a photograph Sam carries of himself, Bridget, and Lucy in the Oval Office.
- The family name "Strand" is a German, Dutch and Norwegian word that also means "beach". It's also a verb: a boat can be beached, or stranded, on a deserted island, leaving its survivors with nowhere to go, which is the origin of the more common use of the word "stranded".
Gallery[]
