Chiral Network coverage
The Chiral Network is Bridges' unique communication network that provides coverage of established strands across the continental United Cities of America.
Story[]
Background[]
Bridget Strand, the former president of the United States of America, dreamed of uniting the country again after the disastrous Death Stranding left the land in pieces and its citizens isolated. She thought of the concept after realizing that the Beach was connected to the world of the dead, and that the memories of time were somewhere beyond it. For this purpose, Bridget founded the company Bridges and developed a network that allowed the remaining cities of America to communicate with each other again.
However, it was only when Mama and Lockne, genius twin sisters born with the ability to communicate with each other across the world due to their DOOMS, joined the Bridges that the project truly began to advance. Using their DOOMS abilities as a base, they split the tasks; Mama developed the hardware for the network, while Lockne developed the software needed for its activation, the Q-pid. When the network was near completion, Amelie, Bridget's daughter, planned an expedition with the goal of convincing isolated survivor communities across continental America to join the UCA and connect to the Chiral Network.
Establishing the network[]
Before the First Expedition's departure, with the basic Q-pid-ready and the core infrastructure complete, the first connection between Central Knot City and Capital Knot City was established without incident, which was a strong step forward for the UCA. The next step was to use Q-pids to establish connections with the other cities and isolated communities who had accepted Amelie's offer to join Bridges during her expeditions; through a second expedition lead by Bridget's adoptive son, Sam, who had abandoned Bridges years earlier. However, Amelie's expedition was interrupted when, arriving in Edge Knot City, she was captured by separatists who had isolated the community's terminals, leaving them offline, and proclaiming the city's independence. This incident led Bridges to expedite finding Sam and resuming the mission laid out by Bridget.
During his Westward Expansion, Sam connects the first expedition's "nodes" before completing the Chiral Network. He does so by delivering the "Network Activation Key", a sacrificial BB, to the Edge Knot City terminal. By doing this, Sam reconnects America under the UCA in addition to connecting all the Beaches, since the network uses it for data transfer, starting the Last Stranding. With the avoidance of the Last Stranding and the completion of the Chiral Network, the United Cities of America is officially born, thus fulfilling Bridget's dream.
Overview[]
The Chiral Network allows for instantaneous data transfer throughout its nodes as it uses the Beach, a place between the living world and the world of the dead that seemingly does not experience time. Possibly due to its time alteration properties, the Beach essentially sends data "back in time", allowing for rapid transference.
A "node" must be built and activated via a Q-pid in order to be put on the "network". When connected, nodes are capable of running chiralgrams, syncing holograms of participants into a single perceived space thus improving face to face communication. All stored data is instantly shareable throughout the network, further linking cities together. The Chiral Network also allows the reconstruction and rediscovery of data that was once thought lost to time, allowing for the rediscovery of human history.
Since the network uses the Beach as a method of data transmission, the activation of each node increases chiralium emissions, causing the Beaches to merge. This gave rise to the Last Stranding when Sam reconnected America, although he ultimately managed to stop it.
Notes[]
- In regard to how it is perceived by some to be a symbiotic surveillance system, the Chiral Network is noted by Die-Hardman to be something of a spiritual successor to the Internet.[1]
- As the post office transformed the United States from independent states into a cohesive nation, so too can the Chiral Network rebuild and unite the individual cities of the country.