The Elemental Shard: What's the deal?

[RadZakpak]

I've been doing some research regarding the Element 115 shard we witness in the comics and where it goes throughout the timeline. In that research I've noted some discrepancies that I feel should be addressed in the future, and I also wonder just what makes this shard special from other variations of 115.

 

The Shard's Origins

The first known appearance of the shard from the official timeline from 2017 states: 

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August 11th, 1973

• Broken Arrow recovers a shard of Element 115 from Division 9.

A bit vague, but okay sure. In 1983, Broken Arrow would go on to create the Bios using the shard, and in 1986 the bios cause an outbreak and the facility holding it is abandoned with Russman being the only survivor. Then in 1996, Victis arrives to collect the shard for Primis Richtofen, in order to enter the Empty Earth and recover the Kronorium. Pretty cut and dry, right? Well...

 

A Classified cipher:

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CLASSIFIED

11th July 1961

MEMORANDUM FOR SECRETARY OF DEFENSE

SUBJECT: DIVISION 9 ACQUISITION AND THE ELEMENTAL SHARD

I've had my men examine all materials acquired from Division 9 in 1946 and have been unable to find the elemental shard. According to our records it was on the original manifest for the formal acquisition of materials and verified as delivered. So I'm more than a little perplexed as to where it's ended up. I see two possibilities:

1) It was lost/destroyed in transit which seems highly unlikely given both it’s size and density

2) It was intentionally taken by a specified individual and is being kept from us. As to who might have taken it, I have my suspicions. For several years Groom Lake was our primary storage for all Division 9 materials.

Perhaps Pernell may have answers as to the fate of the elemental shard.

--Colonel Sawyer

This new cipher states that the shard was acquired from Division 9, again very vaguely, in 1946. We don't know how often Sawyer's men checked their inventory, so the shard is implied to have been stolen by Cornellius Pernell between 1946 and 1961. Mind you, Broken Arrow was not created until 1963. This is despite the earlier timeline stating it was acquired in the 70s from an assumed abandoned Division 9 facility.

 

So what's going on? Is this all the same shard, and Pernell stole it before 1961, held onto it somewhere for over ten years, then only "acquired" it for Broken Arrow in 1973? I personally don't think so. It seems much more likely that there are multiple shards of Element 115, specifically acquired from the same Division 9 facility. Which one in particular? I'm thinking Shi No Numa.

 

In terms of color, the one shard we saw in the comics was blue:

 

In the original Shi No Numa, the 115 meteor we see outside the map appears to be glowing red. But in the BO3 remaster it is blue.

It seems like a very strange thing to want to change without reason. We have seen multiple different colors of 115, from blue, to red, to green. Do they have their own unique properties?

 

What makes the shard unique

 

The timeline states this shard is simply "Element 115". However, this shard is specially noted in the timeline. This specific shard/one of the shards from this same collection is used to create the Bios. They are animals that have been exposed to the shard during testing and became extremely aggressive, incredibly strong, and seemingly immortal while the shard was active. Its use is markedly different from Group 935's use of 115 to create the undead.

 

The shard was able to modify LIVING subjects instead of DEAD ones. It also seems to require some form of power to be able to be used. A dead body simply being exposed to 115 is enough to transform it and connect it to the Aether. On the other hand, the shard has seemingly no effect on living creatures UNTIL it is powered:

It also seems that when Russman escaped the facility, power was lost and the Bios simply died/rested. When Victis arrives, Russman states that them turning on the power at the facility caused it to become active again and thus resurrected the Bios.

 

The last difference between the shard and normal 115 is that the Bios created by the shard seem to have no connection to the Aether, and may just be completely feral. Throughout the comic they fight with the zombies being led by Richtofen to guide Victis. They seemingly are controlled by no one.

 

 

What is the explanation for the shards being so special compared to average 115? It may be a result of Division 9's testing to create their own version. It is also possible that the meteor that produced these shards has a different origin than the 115 we are used to. Could it be connected to Vril perhaps?

 

Let us hope this is addressed in the future. Share your thoughts/observations regarding the shard.

[anonymous]

Killer work, Rad, sharp eye! Something else odd I notice now. In the cipher, it is said that it would almost be impossible to lose the shard in transit, due to it's size and density. The shard in the comics doesn't look that large to me. Though, in both cases they really speak of "the shard", really like it is the same thing. Another note: Division 9's meteorite in the Rising Sun Facility occurs to be a stone meteorite, with 'spots' of Element 115 in it, while in the comic, the shard appears to be completely blue (very concentrated and pure 115). It looks more like a crystal

 

There are two other crystals in the story:

The ones in the Shangri La easter egg and the one in Buried. Both appear to amplify something and also have ethereal abilities. What exactly, I don't know.

 

I never really thought about it, but this shard is indeed very different than any other 115 rock: The reasons you already gave, as well as Russman needs a special tool to grab it. I'm definately gonna give this subject a thought and will come back on it soon!

 

[RadZakpak]

I feel this thread should be revisited with the new details about the shard from Alpha Omega.

 

We know now that, yes, the shard is unique in that it specifically GIVES life to beings. Broken Arrow uses the shard to do two very interesting things:

 

1. Resurrecting the dead... FOR REAL THIS TIME.

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Pernell: This is Broken Arrow Operations Director Pernell, accompanied by Doctor Hale. The date is June 1st, 1964. It's approximately 1 a.m. We're about to begin test number 22. Doctor Hale, you may proceed when ready.

Dr. Hale: Confirming conduits have been linked with the shard, output set to 5000 volts, duration set for ten seconds. Beginning... now.

(whirring)

Pernell: (sighs) Damn... I'm sorry Doctor Hale, I thought we had him.

(heartbeat monitor begins to beep)

Dr. Hale: Director!

Pernell: I don't believe it... incredible...

Dr. Hale: Assessing vitals... at first glance, everything seems good. I'll need some time to run a few tests, but, I think... I think we've done it!

Pernell: Oh, take all the time you need Doctor Hale. If we've done it, uh, I mean if we've truly restored life to the deceased... we'd better be damn sure we're right. Let's keep him quarantined for now. Begin your tests when ready, and we need to make sure he is, well, who he was.

Dr. Hale: What was his name, Director?

Pernell: Peter. His name was Peter McCain. I'll send you his file. And Doctor?

Dr. Hale: Yes sir?

Pernell: Not a word of this to anyone outside the company. Not the CIA, not the DOD. Broken Arrow eyes only.

Dr. Hale: Of course, sir.

Dr. Hale and Pernell use the shard's power to resurrect Peter McCain after being dead for around 20 years. He comes back completely lucid, though having dreams and some vision issues, before making a full recovery.

 

Interestingly, this is VERY similar to what the V-R11 is capable of in Call of the Dead. The V-R11 resurrects Zombies as full living, breathing humans. They, however, run around and scream before getting killed. This is consistent with the effects of the shard on Peter McCain:

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Pernell: Doctor Hale says you're making big improvements every day now.

Peter: Yes, sir. You might say I'm beginning to feel like the old me.

Pernell: Absolutely remarkable. How far you've come these past few months can't be understated. How's the memory loss?

Peter: Still a struggle, sir. If I close my eyes, I can see it clearly for a moment: Der Riese, the Asylum, the plane jump. But, then it's gone.

Pernell: And the nightmares?

Peter: The nightmares, sir?

Pernell: Doctor Hale mentioned something about strange dreams. Giant monsters, medieval France.

Peter: Not in weeks, sir. Those have subsided.

 

In the short term, Peter had nightmares and memory loss. These men revived by the V-R11 have no idea where they are or who they are, so they run for their lives. This all leads me to believe the V-R11 uses an Elemental Shard: 

 

2. It gives a soul/life force to non-living things.

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Dr. Hale: I know how it sounds. But look at the A.D.A.M.s. When we charge them with regular Element 115, it gave them power. But when they were charged by the shard... they feel and act different... they feel alive.

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 Cornellius Pernell: You had something for me, Dr. Hale?

Dr. Hale: Yes, Director. Weiss(?), bring me another one. (pause) This morning there was an incident with an A.D.A.M. It short-circuited and broke down. We're not quite sure how or why, but I think what happened next will have your attention.

Weiss(?): Here you are, Dr. Hale.

A.D.A.M.: Hello, how may I be of service?

Dr. Hale: The A.D.A.M. died right next to one of the life force fuel canisters.

Cornellius Pernell: And?

Dr. Hale: And... Weiss(?)?

Weiss(?): Yes, ma'am. (cocks gun, fires at A.D.A.M.)

A.D.A.M.: Malfunction! Malfunction! Power failure...

Dr. Hale: Watch what happens...

(Sound of life force entering canister)

Cornellius Pernell: Remarkable... Dr. Hale, I'm not sure how this is possible... but you may have just saved this project.

The shard is able to give the A.D.A.M.s life force, that is able to be exerted near the canisters of an APD/MPD upon death. There is not much more for me to say on this, yet, but it is yet another interesting thing about the shard.

[NaBrZHunter]

10 hours ago, RadZakpak said:

Broken Arrow uses the shard to do two very interesting things:

 

1. Resurrecting the dead... FOR REAL THIS TIME.

Dr. Hale and Pernell use the shard's power to resurrect Peter McCain after being dead for around 20 years. He comes back completely lucid, though having dreams and some vision issues, before making a full recovery.

 

In the short term, Peter had nightmares and memory loss. These men revived by the V-R11 have no idea where they are or who they are, so they run for their lives. This all leads me to believe the V-R11 uses an Elemental Shard: 

 

2. It gives a soul/life force to non-living things.

The shard is able to give the A.D.A.M.s life force, that is able to be exerted near the canisters of an APD/MPD upon death. There is not much more for me to say on this, yet, but it is yet another interesting thing about the shard.

Great observation on the VR11 similarities! You might be onto something. Time to start talking about, what was it, “Building 87” again?

 

I would point out one thing though - the zombies who are brought back by the VR11 didn’t necessarily ever lose their souls. Going back to WAW SNN, we know that zombies still contain the trapped souls of their dead. 

 

And perhaps, although it is maddeningly annoying that Peter is brought back from the dead after hanging for 20 years in a jungle surrounded by bugs, birds and maggots, the idea that he could be brought back just the way the VR11 did is at least consistent. 

 

However, that was also a game mechanic. I would like to see some pseudoscientific limitations on how that works and a better explanation for how that kind of effort worked on Peter McCain especially considering, after 20 years in that environment, nothing but bones would be left. 

[anonymous]

On 7/11/2019 at 7:42 AM, NaBrZHunter said:

However, that was also a game mechanic. I would like to see some pseudoscientific limitations on how that works and a better explanation for how that kind of effort worked on Peter McCain especially considering, after 20 years in that environment, nothing but bones would be left. 

Well, the maggot rotten, frozen zombies of Siberia also turned into normal human beings, didn't they? Maybe the Elemental Shard rezurrects a human being by restoring everything according to his stem cells and genetic building plan: How you look is all written down in your DNA.

 

Neat work, once again, Rad! Point 1 is a great correlation you've made, but point 2 is at least as interesting. To understand this, we must understand the role and usage of a 'soul' in this story in general, which is, as my old mentor Hunter once said, "just as big as CoDZ itself". If I may share, this was one approach he started upon a long time ago, merely about the transfer of souls: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1MGDZmPvvNeqKn3Rp1QXdjif5-taH0F4MV2XXFW8z-QU/edit?usp=drivesdk

[Electric Jesus]

Another interesting property of the shard is revealed in one of the Alpha Omega audio logs, where Pernell raves about "MKAlpha," a successor to the real-life CIA MKUltra mind-control experiments. He states that the shard would allow them to "Interrogate the subject from inside his own subconscious," or something to that effect. 

 

Sawyer: I'll admit I had my concerns Cornelius, but if what you say is true MKAlpha could transform interrogation practices.

Pernell: Not just transform, Sawyer, revolutionize! Using the APD to harness the power of element 115, we'll be able to interrogate subjects from within their own subconscious! We can access their thoughts, manipulate their emotions, rewrite their memories! We can procure any confession! Brigadier General, what I'm offering you is Mind Control on a level MKUltra could never DREAM of accomplishing!" 

 

It's never directly stated, but we actually see this ability in action in the Yuri interrogation radios. 

 

Yuri: Get out of my head! I can feel you! (Russian Exclamation)

Pernell: Not until we're finished. Did she tell you about her next attack?

 

During the interrogation radios, Pernell's voice is distorted in a similar way to Hudson's in the black ops 1 Campaign. When I heard Yuri say "get out of my head" I assumed he was talking to Sam or the Shadowman or whatever, but then Pernell replies to that directly. So apparently Pernell has entered Yuri's mind somehow in order to interrogate him? Yuri also says:

 

Yuri: You have been marked by it! you are cursed. I hear it in your thoughts. I can feel it.

 

We also see Peter's ADAM body sitting in an interrogation chair rigged up directly in front of the APD. This gives me the impression that Pernell is kinda entering Yuri's mind in some Aetherial form, and this is done by Pernell entering the APD in order to jack himself into the subject's mind. 

 

This might be a long shot, but I can almost imagine us confronting Monty with the Shard and entering like a boss fight arena inside of his mind. This seems like a really interesting power for them to go out of their way to describe, when they could have just made it a regular old interrogation. I suspect we might see more of this.

[anonymous]

@Electric Jesus I also wonder if this might be what we were doing during the Bossfight in Der Eisendrache. The whole Pyramid/Pablo thing was kinda the same as the APD/Yuri thing, and as I mentioned in the other thread I suspect Group 935 doing similar messed up shit thrre as Broken Arrow. And we did enter the MPD to fight the rogue Keeper. Were we in it's mind, battling the corruption?

[RadZakpak]

25 minutes ago, anonymous said:

@Electric Jesus I also wonder if this might be what we were doing during the Bossfight in Der Eisendrache. The whole Pyramid/Pablo thing was kinda the same as the APD/Yuri thing, and as I mentioned in the other thread I suspect Group 935 doing similar messed up shit thrre as Broken Arrow. And we did enter the MPD to fight the rogue Keeper. Were we in it's mind, battling the corruption?

This actually makes a lot of sense. In Alpha Omega, Pernell worries in a radio that he cannot figure out how to make the artificial MPD that Richtofen designed work because he needs the Vril Rod and the artifact we find buried in Griffin Station. Pernell says they might not even exist because they cannot be found. The solution to his problem was the Elemental Shard, which I've theorized uses 115 AND the Vril that Maxis was apparently working with. In Der Eisendrache we use the Vril Rod and the Summoning Key as substitutes, and we know with this power we are capable of entering the mind. Very good point.

[anonymous]

3 minutes ago, RadZakpak said:

This actually makes a lot of sense. In Alpha Omega, Pernell worries in a radio that he cannot figure out how to make the artificial MPD that Richtofen designed work because he needs the Vril Rod and the artifact we find buried in Griffin Station. Pernell says they might not even exist because they cannot be found. The solution to his problem was the Elemental Shard, which I've theorized uses 115 AND the Vril that Maxis was apparently working with. In Der Eisendrache we use the Vril Rod and the Summoning Key as substitutes, and we know with this power we are capable of entering the mind. Very good point.

While I've always believed the Vril Rod was merely the conduit of the force coming out of the Focussing Stone, ancient mythologies tell it is a source of Vril as well. So yeah, I could definately see the Shard, if it is emitting both 115 and Vril, being used as a replacement of the Rod and the Stone, though less powerfull.

[Electric Jesus]

That’s actually entirely possible, because we see the V-R11 Instantly revert someone from dead / zombified to living and awake. With the Elemental shard though, Pernell had to rig peter up to the shard for a longer duration to very gradually bring him back to life.