Death Stranding

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1. #1selective

   Keys: Death Stranding

   The Death Stranding is the series of supernatural events in the world. Beginning with simultaneous explosions around the world, the Death Stranding resulted in the world of the dead and living becoming connected, with drastic consequences for human society and the ecosystem.

   The Death Stranding began when the Beach, the world between the afterlife and the physical world of the living, became entangled with the living world. Immediately following the Death Stranding, the soul (termed the 'Ka') of any human who died remains tethered to the body (termed the Ha.) This connection results in the soul attempting to reunite with the body, causing the body to necrotize as it is infiltrated by matter from the other side. Unless the body is completely incinerated, the reunion of soul and body becomes a Beached Thing (BT). BTs are beings from the other side who have become 'stranded' in the living world. BTs contain a core of antimatter, which reacts violently with the matter of a living person. If they are allowed to consume a living person, a voidout occurs as the victim's body and the BT's core are explosively annihilated, which has the capacity to level an entire city. The Death Stranding also introduced large quantities of chiralium into the living world - a form of matter which had previously only existed on the other side, which exhibits strange time-altering properties in its interactions with normal matter and living things especially. The initial manifestation of the Death Stranding to the public was the simultaneous massive explosions that occurred around the world. These were initially attributed to either nuclear terrorism or meteor impacts, but subsequent analysis suggested that the explosions had many characteristics more reminiscent of matter-antimatter annihilation events. In light of this, it's likely the explosions were caused by the very first BT manifestations and their subsequent voidouts. Vast swathes of the world were devastated as chain reactions of explosions from the blossoming BT population spread.

   The presence of large quantities of chiralium has brought about massive changes to the environment. The increasing density of chiral matter in the atmosphere leads to perpetually overcast weather as well as Timefall - Chiralium-infiltrated rain that causes whatever it strikes to rapidly age. Timefall devastated ecosystems and caused the geography of the world to rapidly become unrecognisable - ground has been weathered, plant life has proliferated enormously, animal populations have been killed en masse and artificial structures built by humans have decayed.

2. #2selective

   Keys: voidout

   A voidout is an explosive annihilation event that occurs when a BT consumes a human. A voidout occurs when the anti-matter of the inner body of a BT interacts with the matter of the normal world. This interaction causes an intense and violent explosion, leaving behind a crater big enough to destroy a whole city.

   Repatriates can return from a voidout. The crater left by a repatriate-induced voidout is smaller than others.

3. #3selective

   Keys: Beach, The Beach

   The Beach is a place in the supposed World of the Dead, between the living world and what comes next. The Beach acts as a sort of limbo, a place between the world of the living and what comes after it. It is a manifestation of humankind's consciousness and their personal conception of death. As such, the Beach is a phenomenon common to all humans and unique to each individual. Each person has an instance of the Beach that is personal to them, given form by their thoughts and beliefs. Because of this, the Beach is often described as a "multiverse", as all souls inhabit a personal Beach (in most cases). This is in contrast to the land of the living, where everyone's physical body inhabits the same universe. No other animal life manifests a Beach, and therefore they do not necrotize and form a BT if not incinerated. There are cases where several souls inhabit the same Beach, however, like with soldiers who die in a war. The massive amounts of deaths in short periods of time and the common feeling of hatred and despair cause the soldiers' souls to be stranded in a shared Beach, shaped like a battlefield, where they continue to fight, unable to move past the limbo. Large numbers of deaths at the same time seem to also result in shared Beaches.

   The Beach lacks a flow of time, and the matter that originates from it does not either. Those physically stranded on the Beach do not age for this reason. Most Beaches share common characteristics of a shore of dark sand and rock and a cloudy sky, but it is possible for a Beach to not resemble a literal beach at all. Most Beaches seen have stranded marine life scattered, often along with viscera and human remains. The common theme of Beaches appears to be ones of borders and transitioning points (life to death, land to sea, etc.).

4. #4selective

   Keys: chiralium

   Chiralium is a crystallization of Chiral Matter originated from the Beach. Chiralium is present through the atmosphere of the planet as a result of the Death Stranding and is responsible for the meteorological event known as Timefall. Chiralium originates from the Beach, and, like its point of origin, does not experience the flow of time. Chiralium has been likened to dark matter, in that it has likely been present in the universe since the Big Bang, and merely invisible and unable to interact with the living world until the Death Stranding, when a man and BT first came together in voidout and left nothing but chiralium in their wake. Chiralium has a tendency to float in the air, a property exploited to create hovering platforms.

   When chiralium crystals are exposed to timefall, they showed no signs of degradation, so chiralium is used on a large array of high-tech devices exploiting the properties of the Beach, but overexposure is lethal, and can't be stored in large quantities either, so only small objects and some structures are coated with it. Prolonged exposure to chiralium can significantly impact physical and mental health, manifesting as depression, suicidal thoughts, apocalyptic nightmares, and even death; this condition is called Chiral Contamination. The most common symptom of chiral contamination is poor sleep quality due to vivid nightmares and if left unchecked, however, it can quickly progress a more advanced stage. The resulting hormonal imbalances frequently lead to heightened destructive impulses towards the self and others. Those dominated by such urges are named Homo Demens and, in the case of some porters, such as MULEs, impaired memory and judgment has led them to develop an irrational obsession with their profession. DOOMS sufferers have demonstrated a particular resistance to the chiralium contamination.

   Chiral contamination can be alleviated using similar methods to those used to alleviate stress: increasing oxytocin secretion through contact with other people, administering smart drugs, and so forth. A hormone dubbed "Likecin" is used to mitigate the effects of chiral contamination while also restoring basic physical and mental acuity. Unlike oxytocin, likecin cannot be administered externally. It is secreted within the body, but only in response to external stimuli.

5. #5selective

   Keys: Timefall

   Timefall is an otherworldly form of preceipitation which accelerates the progress of time within nearly all it comes into contact with. Most people in the world are aware of its existence and effect. Timefall was first recorded when the Death Stranding occurred as since before there are no traces or occurrences of such precipitations. The effects recorded over the years of research are that timefall accelerates the passage of time for the objects and organisms it touches and that it immediately turns to ordinary water having done so. Some researchers have gone as far as to posit this process as "stealing" time.

   It has been theorized that when clouds containing chiralium are excited by gamma radiation produced by lightning, the chiralium within begins to exacerbate minute distortions in space-time, somehow “loosening" the Seams that connect people to the Beaches. This excited chiralium mixes with precipitation and descends to the ground below and makes the underlying region much more strongly connected with the Beach—and as a consequence, makes BTs appear more often in areas especially prone to timefall.

   The excited chiralium which falls to the ground is also theorized to cause electromagnetic interference, an explanation for both the disruption of certain electrical systems (power outages in buildings, vehicles shutting down) and a decrease in temperature sharp enough to witness condensation of breath.

   Though commonly experienced as rain, timefall can also come in the form of snow with particularly worsened effects.

6. #6selective

   Keys: BTs, BT, Beached thing

   Beached Things (BTs) are entities whose souls are stranded in the world of the living following the events of the Death Stranding. BTs are considered extremely dangerous and are almost invariably hostile toward living beings. Because the bodies of BTs contain antimatter, if they consume a living being, a voidout will be triggered, causing a massive explosion capable of destroying entire cities. A Beached Thing comes into existence when the deceased soul of a living being fails to cross through the Beach into the world of the dead, consequently becoming "stranded" in the world of the living, with their connection to the other side maintained through an umbilical cord. The Death Stranding occurred concurrently with the first recorded sighting of a BT by a doctor performing a Caesarean section on a brain dead mother. Due to the Death Stranding, when a human being dies, their "ka" (soul) is still connected to and will attempt to return to their "ha" (body) after death. The only way to prevent this is to destroy the body, usually through cremation at an incinerator; if this is not carried out, the ka will return to the ha and then become a BT, stranded in the world of the living, risking a Voidout.

   BTs can be perceived by individuals suffering from DOOMS, or via a trance connection to bridge babies, which exist between the worlds of the living and dead. The extent to which DOOMS sufferers can interact with BTs varies; Sam is capable of sensing BTs, but cannot see them without the assistance of Lou. Fragile, meanwhile, is capable of seeing BTs without aid. With a DOOMS level of seven at minimum, Higgs is capable of not only seeing BTs, but also controlling them at will.

   It is never clear if the Beached Things are all stranded human souls, native entities to the 'other side', or a mixture.

   Types of BT: Gazer; Gazers are floating humanoid BTs which manifest in areas showered in timefall; their presence is indicated from a distance by spectral black strands in the atmosphere above such areas. Gazers sense by sound, and are unable to detect Porters while they are either immobile or holding their breath. If Porters cut the umbilical cord of a gazer, they will be driven back to the other side. Catcher; Catchers are large BTs that appear when Porters are dragged away by gazers. They have a core of antimatter from the other side within them. As such, if a Porter is eaten by them, it will react with their matter and explode in a voidout. Catchers form an arena of thick tar in which old buildings, vehicles, and rubble constantly emerge and sink. Porters must either destroy the catcher or flee to the edge of the arena. If they flee, the catcher will become caught on the edge of the arena and disappear into the tar, which will then evaporate, and all BTs will vanish from the area for a short time. Upon being defeated, catchers will crystallize before evaporating with the nearby tar, all BTs will leave, and a large amount of chiral crystals will form on the ground. Defeating or fleeing a catcher will cause timefall to stop for a short time. Catchers are A large lion-like quadruped, with a mane of oily tentacles surrounding a segmented golden carapace. When the creature roars an orifice-like head is revealed beneath this golden faceplate. This catcher has multiple melee attacks, telegraphed by either its paws or tail glowing. Additionally, it can attack from afar with a chiral laser.

7. #7selective

   Keys: DOOMS

   DOOMS is a condition granting individuals a greater connection to the other side. Those with DOOMS are called "sufferers" of the condition. DOOMS was spread throughout humanity by Amelie in an attempt to understand the chronic visions of extinction she has as an extinction entity. Not knowing which to trust, she shared them with those who would become DOOMS sufferers. From that point onward, Amelie's dreams of extinction became the nightmares commonly associated with DOOMS. The primary physical manifestation of DOOMS is a chiral allergy, a sudden onset of tears involuntarily releasing from the eyes in the presence of high levels of chiralium and entities from the other side. DOOMS sufferers are more connected with and aware of the nature of the Beach, and the greater the level of their condition the more powerful this connection makes them.

   DOOMS has severe drawbacks, however. All DOOMS sufferers experience extremely distressing nightmares of a singularly apocalyptic theme, which can cause or exacerbate mental illness. While sufferers are more resistant to chiralium exposure than normal humans, they are not immune, and higher levels of DOOMS may precipitate the erratic, suicidal, or homicidal tendencies of the Homo Demens.

8. #8selective

   Keys: bridge babies, BB

   A Bridge Baby, abbreviated as BB, is an unborn fetus that has been taken from a stillmother to be used as equipment by Bridges operatives, and some separatist groups, granting them the ability to sense and detect the Beached Things. A Bridge Baby is a seven months fetus removed via a cesarean section from a brain-dead mother. A stillmother's womb facilitates a connection between the world of the dead and a BB, granting the operatives the ability to sense and detect BTs when physically connected. To function properly, Bridge Babies are kept in portable pods which simulate the conditions of a stillmother's womb, as they will cease to function properly if they feel they are not in such a womb. The majority of the BBs are withdrawn from service just after one year, apparently the maximum time they can be fooled into believing that the capsule they are in is actually the womb, before it becomes dangerous to the operative. Periodically, the environmental conditions of the capsule must be updated by inserting it in a special incubator that synchronizes it with the stillmother's womb at a given moment, taking the data in order to keep the deception longer.

   Bridge Babies use a sensory mechanism similar to echolocation to detect BTs. The pod, designed to mimic the conditions inside a human womb, are key to preserving the BBs connections with this world and the other side. Bridge Babies are capable of producing something not unlike a dolphin's sound waves, travelling through the amniotic fluid and out the other side, bounce off BTs, and return as echoes, allowing a BB to ascertain the location of threats.

9. #9selective

   Keys: Stillmother

   Stillmothers are brain dead mothers which, following the trauma suffered, are inserted into a suspension capsule full of liquid, in the shape of a sarcophagus, in order to be able to remove via a cesarean section the fetus at the seventh month of gestation and use it as a Bridge Baby. A stillmother's womb facilitates a connection between the world of the dead and a BB, granting the operatives the ability to sense and detect BTs when physically connected. To function properly, Bridge Babies are kept in portable pods which simulate the conditions of a stillmother's womb, as they will cease to function properly if they feel they are not in such a womb. Periodically, the environmental conditions of the capsule must be updated by inserting it in a special incubator that synchronizes it with the stillmother's womb at a given moment, taking the data in order to keep the deception longer.

10. #10selective

    Keys: Porters, Porter

    Porters are freelance delivery personnel commissioned to transport cargo to and from clients across the continental UCA. Porters have a chance to succumb to porter syndrome, a degenerative condition that causes porters to become solely dependent on the "high" of delivering cargo, to the point of attempting to forcibly steal and deliver the cargo of other deliverymen.

11. #11selective

    Keys: UCA, United Cities of America

    The United Cities of America, abbreviated UCA, also known as America, is a fledgling nation-state located in North America, with its capital in Capital Knot City. When the United States was devastated by the Death Stranding, its population was divided and terrorized, causing the nation to deteriorate. Bridget Strand, who had become President after the death of her predecessor during the first voidout in Manhattan, had the vision of reuniting America again, and for this fund Bridges.

12. #12selective

    Keys: World of the dead, other side

    The world of the dead is a realm of existence from which beached things enter into the world of the living.

13. #13selective

    Keys: MULE, MULEs

    The MULEs, also called Homo Gestalts due to their irrational obsession with their profession, are a group of cargo thieves that ambush porters while on delivery or near their camps. The MULEs wear a suit similar to porter uniforms where each one has a unique color, different details and a lot of different equipment such as: ski masks, tactical masks, helmets, hoods, bags, armor plates, communication devices, combat vests, and wear an exclusive footwear, the MULE boots. They can carry cargo on their suits like other porters, mainly ceramic and resin, are equipped with electrified pole weapons, which they use as both melee weapons and ranged throwing weapons, and a sticky gun, which they use to catch others' cargo, and use a three flap odradek variant. Even if armed they, however, do not kill anyone, mainly because of their sole interest in cargo and also due to fear of necrosis, which leads to the birth of BTs. The MULE nature is highly aggressive. They do not kill, but will not hesitate to attack porters until knocking them out to steal their cargo. MULEs will not attack if one has no cargo or equipment, but trespassing in their camps will provoke them to attack nonetheless.

14. #14selective

    Keys: Extinction entity, EE

    An Extinction Entity, abbreviated in EE, is a living being whose existence triggers mass extinctions, and is the bridge by which a Death Stranding occurs. Throughout the history of life on Earth, at least five EEs are believed to have lived and died, each the catalyst for a prior mass extinction event (the Big Five), which ultimately resulted in significant changes to the world's biodiversity. From archaeological findings of chiralium connected to prior Strandings, the previous EEs were a woolly mammoth, a neanderthal, a dinosaur, a trilobite and an ammonite. Each of these five EE's corpses were found to be frozen in time, not suffering biological decay, and possessed an umbilical cord similar to BTs called "strands," which tied them to the Beach. The mass extinction causing effect of an Extinction Entity can be considered their function. Their very purpose is to cause a mass extinction. An EE cannot willingly fight against their purpose, but they can bend the rules to delay or lessen the extinction event. Amelie believes that all previous EEs had the power to end all life on Earth, but instead chose to let some life prevail in the end, due to their own attachment to the living world. This leads to the in-universe theory that EEs are a natural part of the cycle of life and death in a reality dominated by entropy. Each entity's Death Stranding altered the world in such a way that in the wake of death and destruction new lifeforms emerged, and were able to flourish.

15. #15selective

    Keys: Homo Demens

    The Homo Demens, also known as Terrorists, are a militant separatist organization. They are directly opposed to the United Cities of America and are reputed for slaughtering the residents of towns and for engineering voidouts. The Homo Demens are a highly decentralized group of individuals whose predilection towards slaughter and dedication to violence make them a vilified and destructive opponent. A distinction between the MULEs, another fanatical faction, and the Demens is that they will only ping Porters on their scanners while MULEs only ping cargo, and use lethal weapons, even if this would lead to the death of the victim and the subsequent appearance of a BT. Their obsession with maintaining separatism and independence borders on psychopathy, as does their engineering voidouts as means of creating and perpetrating fear throughout the UCA alliance between cities. There is no structural hierarchy present within the Homo Demens as there is no general need to have one, but a group, individuals display unwavering loyalty to Higgs. Despite finding the idea of being controlled reprehensible, he styles himself as the higher power and coordinator of all the events that are orchestrated by the Homo Demens.

    Operating mainly outside, and therefore with the danger of the timefall, the Demens wear a suit similar to that of their leader Higgs: a dark green suit under a dark bulletproof vest on the torso, black armor plates in the shoulder with gold streaks and the phrase VOID OUT, gloves and boots. They wear a protective helmet of an unconventional shape with two pieces of animal hide attached, to give a sense of strangeness but also of camouflage. A power skeleton is attached to their legs and a 3-pronged flower-shaped odradek attached to their back. They are also equipped with lethal assault rifles and grenades.

16. #16selective

    Keys: Higgs Monaghan

    Higgs acted as the figurehead of the militant separatist group known as the Homo Demens to maintain the independence of Edge Knot City. Higgs was raised by his uncle early in his life after both of his parents died. He grew up thinking the shelter was the entire world, and his uncle would beat him whenever he asked about the outside world or tried to leave the shelter. Higgs would eventually kill his uncle in self-defense with a knife and witness the body going necro. Higgs took the corpse out and felt the Beached Things slowly approaching, unknowingly gaining his DOOMS in the process. In time, he would find out that his powers were triggered by death. To stay alive, Higgs became a porter, being the only job he could do to survive. One time, he delivered medicine to a prepper living close to him only to find that he had died. It was too late to take the body to an incinerator. Instead, he took it to BT territory, where he started feeling the BTs reacting to the corpse and began having visions of the Beach, leaving Higgs to wonder if he had DOOMS. Eventually Higgs begin to make a name for himself thanks to his hard work as a porter. He was offered a position in a delivery outfit out west that operated outside Bridges' sphere of influence, for expanding their operations.

    The head of the outfit who recognized Higgs talents and sought him out was a woman who called herself Coffin. She told Higgs that Bridges plan for rebuilding America involved the sacrifices of unborn children. The so-called BBs were being carted to some factory by the boatload to be slaughtered. Higgs learned that Coffin and her crew were behind the spike of recent terrorism in the region, but trusting her words, he decided to follow her lead in secret.

    Coffin, who begin to consider Higgs her son, would give him military training and transmit her ideas, which would be fundamental in the young man's future. In addition, his DOOMS ability would be of vital importance for the mobility and survival of the group in BT's territory.

    The end of the group came when they attacked a facility that was blown up by the UCA, killing almost all the rebels in the explosion. The survivors suffered terminal cancer due to the high concentration of chiral crystals in the area. Before going their separate ways, Coffin gave Higgs a mission: to save the BBs and put a stop to Bridges, to go to west, play the good porter a little while longer and eventually help Coffin's daughter, should the two ever cross paths.

    Leaving his life as a rebel behind, Higgs came to enjoy helping people, being an essential part of a community, defying his adoptive father's teachings about caring only about oneself. However, when he was unable to help one of his porter partners that was calling for help lost in the mountains, Higgs began to question his powers to detect BTs because he felt them dwindling. Simultaneously, Higgs began reading a book called Wisdom of the Egyptians, about how the ancient Egyptians' concepts of life and death seemed to predict the changes brought on by the Death Stranding. Borrowing from the old pharaohs' wisdom, he began to wear a golden death mask, "but one for living—for ruling".

    With the increase of terrorist actions lead by the terrorist group in the region, Word is Demens, and rumors that Bridges was sending an expeditionary force out west to "facilitate the reconstruction of America", Higgs decided that is time to join up with Fragile Express, lead by Coffin's daughter Fragile, who also had great DOOMS powers. Together they planned to consolidate their operations throughout the whole continent, like what UCA planed. Higgs thought he was the only one suited for leading the people and bringing them a new free and united world. With his golden mask, Higgs is able to summon Hunter BTs in the form of chiralium, and subsequently a Catcher BT to attack porters. Furthermore, he is shown to be able to control the weather in the form of timefalls; Higgs points his hand upwards to the sky in the shape of a gun, and fires off a blast into the clouds, triggering the timefall almost immediately afterwards. Higgs' DOOMS level is at minimum seven, and grants him the ability to control BTs, along with all lower level DOOMS abilities, such as causing timefall.

17. #17selective

    Keys: Odradek

    The Odradek Terrain Scanner is a shoulder-mounted, articulated mechanical sensor used by individuals venturing into the dangerous lands transformed by the Death Stranding. The Odradek serves as a multi-function scanning device, with the ability to analyze terrain as well as detect cargo tags and objects left by other players. The device typically remains in its stowed position on the operator's shoulders unless manually activated, or However, Odradeks can perform basic functions without a connection to a BB. Another function is the Odradek's built-in flashlight, wich automatically tracks with the operator's viewpoint.

    Odradek scanner technology is utilized throughout the world by various groups, primarily by Bridges operatives and freelance Porters, but also by enemies of Bridges as well, such as Higgs, Homo Demens and the MULEs. Bridges operatives possess a variant with five-pointed symmetrical design akin to a star, while Porters and MULEs are seen to use a smaller three-pointed variant. Some individuals, such as Homo Demens, possess unique Odradek variants.

18. #18selective

    Keys: Necrosis

    Necrosis is a progressive stage of death completed in the 48 hours following cardiac arrest, where chiral matter begins to infiltrate the body as the subjects soul attempts to return to it. If allowed to progress, a deceased subject becomes a new beached thing. Necrosis occurs when a non-repatriate dies following a cardiac arrest and his body is left unchecked for the following 48 hours.

19. #19selective

    Keys: Cryptobiote

    A cryptobiote is a small life form in the world of Death Stranding which, when ingested, replenishes a small amount of a person's blood. Cryptobiotes were rarely seen prior to the Death Stranding, only recorded in reference books and databases but without a specific study, classification or proper name. After the Death Stranding, a researcher called these bugs Cryptobiotes, for the process of cryptobiosis, which means "hidden life", also recognizing their beneficial abilities. They found that the cryptobiotes can survive anything and anywhere, even on the Beach or in the Seam, and also that humans who eat them acquire a limited resistance to timefall. They can be found in correspondence of coral formations of various shapes and sizes.

    Since they can be found on Earth, even if in few and hidden places, on the Beach and in the Seam too, this indicates that they seem to be capable of traveling between worlds, theorizing a possible origin from the "other side".

20. #20selective

    Keys: Repatriation

    Repatriation is the ability which some humans have to return to life after death. When a human and a BT come into contact, an annihilation event knows as voidout occurred. These events occur when matter meets antimatter, and mass is converted, violently and abruptly, into energy, resulting in destruction on a devastating scale which leaves behind a large crater. The Egyptians believed that after death, the soul vacates the body and passes into the Seam, from there it transitions to the Beach, and only then on to the world of the dead.

    A repatriate, is a human with the power to guide his soul, after being "eat" by a BT, in the Seam by following being "stranded", ultimately bringing themselves back to life if they find their body. How the repatriate's body survives the contact with a BT and the following voidout is a far bigger mystery. Voidouts triggered by contact with repatriates, however, consistently result in smaller craters. It is suspected that this is because energy is “lost" to the Beach, and that in the case of repatriates, the amount of energy lost is particularly high.

21. #21selective

    Keys: Tar

    Tar is a viscous black liquid that manifests along with aggressive BTs. When Portersb are attacked by hunters, the ground immediately surrounding him will become covered in tar from which hunters will manifest and attempt to pull him down into. If hunters successfully pull Porters down, they will drag them to a nearby area where a catcher will manifest and tar will eventually overflow the entire vicinity of conflict.

    While in tar, Porter's mobility is impeded, making it difficult for them to avoid the clutches of attacking hunters or attacks from catchers. Tar is the manifestation of the Beach. Objects such as buildings can be transported to and from the Beach through tar.

22. #22selective

    Keys: Reverse Trike

    The Reverse Trike is a vehicle that porters can use to traverse the american continent. The Reverse Trike is a vehicle capable of traveling at high speeds across flat and rugged terrain, making it useful for quick getaways in dangerous situations. At low speeds, the bike functions as a trike, with two separated front wheels. When increased the speed, the two front wheels cobine into one, greatly increasing the top speed. However, this will drain the battery much quicker than the normal mode.

23. #23selective

    Keys: Timefall shelter

    A Timefall Shelter is a structure that is used as temporary protection from Timefall.

24. #24selective

    Keys: Fragile Express

    Fragile's Father came up with the name “Fragile Express" shortly after the Death Stranding, when all the voidouts had left craters as far as the eye could see in what left of America. Back in the days he'd been working for a private logistics company, and he and some friends figured they were in a position to bring people supplies and repair vital infrastructure Americans used to rely on to survive. Believing that they could get, bit by bit, make America whole again, they became the point of reference for the survivors in the central region, reaching the point of rivaling Bridges of the eastern region, and even arriving in that region via their freighter making port to Port Knot City. When Fragile's Father dies, she became the new company executive, inheriting the structure and connections that Fragile Express had obtained over the years. Thanks to Fragile's DOOMS ability and charisma, she attracted the attention of a fledgling courier company led by Higgs Monaghan, who merged with Fragile Express becoming the only one doing business in the region. Early on, they were highly successful in delivering supplies to those in the most remote of areas, but all too quickly it was discovered that Higgs was a terrorist leading the Homo Demens, managing to sneak some of its members into Fragile Express employees. They had gone from delivering food and medicine for communities to smuggling guns and bombs for terrorist cells, even tricking Fragile into bringing a nuclear bomb into Middle Knot City, resulting in the deaths of everyone there.

    All this, and a further attack on South Knot City, albeit half-foiled, lead the entire community of the region to think of the Fragile Express as nothing more than terrorists, blaming Fragile herself.

25. #25selective

    Keys: Bridges

    Bridges is a logistic company that was formed to reconnect the fractured society of United States of America after the cataclysm known as the Death Stranding. The company bears also a close relation to a conglomerate named the United Cities of America.

26. #26selective

    Keys: Fragile

    Fragile is the young executive company and owner of the Fragile Express, and an ally of Sam Porter. Fragile was born in the world post-Death Stranding by her father, owner and founder of the logistics company Fragile Express, and mother, who was a freelance porter making various deliveries for both preppers and the government of the UCA prior to the marriage. She was named after the family company name, to whom both parents made a promise to rebuild America by the time she grew up. Born with powerful DOOMS ability, Fragile grows up hearing her father's stories of what America was like before the nation collapsed as a result of the Death Stranding but, when Fragile was twelve, her mother abandoned the two, for their own good, with the objective of destroying the UCA BB's facilities, the bond between father and daughter became stronger.

    When Fragile's father died, she became the new company executive, inheriting the structure and connections that Fragile Express had obtained over the years. Thanks to Fragile's DOOMS ability and charisma, she attracted the attention of a fledgling courier company led by Higgs Monaghan, who merged with Fragile Express becoming the only one doing business in the region.

    Early on, they were highly successful in delivering supplies to those in the most remote of areas, but all too quickly it was discovered that Higgs was a terrorist leading the terrorist group Homo Demens. They had gone from delivering food and medicine for communities to smuggling guns and bombs for terrorist cells. Fragile was tricked into bringing a nuclear bomb into Middle Knot City, resulting in the deaths of everyone there. Fragile discovered that Higgs was delivering another nuke to South Knot City and managed to steal it away from them, only to be caught by the terrorists. Fragile was stripped down to her underwear and given a choice by Higgs: save the city by running through timefall, which he had summoned, and throwing the bomb into a tar pit, or warping out of the area and saving herself, at the cost of all those who lived there. Fragile chose to save those in the city, and Higgs gave her a hood so that her face would be protected, wanting for her face to be a testament to those who crossed him, and for it to be remembered as belonging to the person who nuked Middle Knot City. Because of this, the rest of Fragile's body deteriorated as the price for South Knot's continued survival.

    Despite her actions, the credibility of Fragile Express was now compromised along with the trust of the region's survivors, thus reducing the demands for delivery. With business and credibility at a minimum, and her body disfigured, Fragile was a broken woman but still sought revenge against Higgs.

27. #27selective

    Keys: Samuel "Sam" Porter Bridges, Sam Bridges, Sam

    Samuel "Sam" Porter Bridges is a legendary porter and member of Bridges who plays an integral role in expanding the Chiral Network and making the United Cities of America whole by embarking on a westward expedition.

28. #28selective

    Keys: Port Knot City

    Port Knot City is a city of the United Cities of America, and one of the two coastal Knots along with Lake Knot City. Port Knot City city was built, after the Death Stranding, on the crater lake of Ground Zero, formed after a series of voidouts that separated the continent, with the function of connecting the eastern region with the central one. At one point the Fragile Express, which owned a cargo ship, began to bank between Port Knot and Lake Knot City, thus challenging Bridges and expanding its sphere of influence.

29. #29selective

    Keys: Lake Knot City

    Lake Knot City is a city of the United Cities of America, and one of the two coastal Knots along with Port Knot City. Port Knot City city was built, after the Death Stranding, on the crater lake of Ground Zero, formed after a series of voidouts that separated the continent, with the function of connecting the central region with the eastern one. At one point the Fragile Express, which owned a cargo ship, began to bank between Lake Knot and Port Knot City, thus challenging Bridges and expanding its sphere of influence.

30. #30selective

    Keys: Chiral Network

    The Chiral Network is Bridges unique communication network providing coverage of established strands across the continental United Cities of America. Using the Beach, a place between the living world and what comes next that does not experience time, the Chiral Network allows for instantaneous data transfer throughout its nodes, seemingly due to its time alteration properties, essentially sending it "back in time".

    A "node" must be built and then activated via a Q-pid in order to be put on the "network" and, when connected, nodes are capable of running chiralgrams, syncing holograms of participating people into a single perceived space thus improving face to face communication. All stored data is instantaneously shareable throughout the network, further linking cities together. The Chiral Network also allows the reconstruction and rediscovery of long-lost data, thus allowing the rediscovery of human history.

    Since the network uses the Beach as a method of data transmission, the activation of each node increases the emission of chiralium, since it is the origin, in the area, causing the Beaches to merge.

31. #31selective

    Keys: Strands, Strand

    Strands are cords to the beaches allowing communication between the real world and the world of the dead. They form the basis, allowing the Chiral Network to send these messages through the beachs.

32. #32selective

    Keys: Q-pid

    The Q-pid was designed by Bridges researchers Mama e Lockne during the development of the Chiral Network as a device, which bears a series of tag-engraved physics equations, containing all of the necessary security and operations protocols to integrate a terminal location into the network. All established strand points are accessible to those bearing the required equations.

    The Q-pid contains a high amount of chiralium, which makes it float in the air, and because of this it is potentially lethal to anyone without natural chiralium resistance.

33. #33selective

    Keys: Delivery dependence syndrome

    Delivery dependence syndrome is a degenerative condition that causes porters to become solely dependent on the ‘high' of delivering cargo, to the point of attempting to forcibly steal and deliver the cargo of other deliverymen.

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