Pablo's Spleen: A History and Unanswered Questions

[RadZakpak]

I love spleens, you love spleens, we all love spleens! There is one spleen in particular, however, which will be important to today's discussion, and that is the spleen of Pablo Marinus:

 

 

I decided to explore the spleen and its importance because it perplexed me why Richtofen would keep the spleen in stasis in Siberia, even leaving it there after he left to perform Operation Shield. It is in the very same type of vat as the Ultimis clones, so to Richtofen, this spleen must have some major importance. Let's run through what we know about the spleen to find out what that importance may be.

 

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May 9th, 1945

"My name is Pablo, or at least I think it is or was, I don't know anymore. I have been locked away, held prisoner in this cell for many months by German scientists. They keep experimenting on me, pumping me full of some blue liquid. I think it is responsible for the repeated visions I have been having, which I swear look and feel real. In my vision, my name is Pablo Marinus and I am a knight coming back from the Crusades. I fight in a great battle against strange, demon like creatures who are trying to devour the Earth. At one point, it appears I am doomed, trapped in the tentacles of a great, three headed beast, when suddenly, four knights decimate it with magical elemental staves, saving me from certain death. There are other worldly creatures that fight on our side against the demons. The creepy thing is that the sigils on their tunics resemble the ones I noticed on the stones here at the castle as I was being brought to my cell. I just hope I can eventually find a way to escape this place."

A full eight months after being captured at Der Eisendrache, Pablo begins to see visions of his past self in the Great War.

 

As Pablo, Takeo, and Nikolai are being transferred to Siberia, Richtofen begins work there, and The Reporter is captured and questioned on July 18th, 1945 after trying to steal the Vril Vessel.

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August 1st, 1945

The test subjects arrive at the Siberian facility for Richtofen’s experiments.

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Log Entry 1469. Date: August 28th 1945. Dear diary, progress continues on unlocking the human mind. If Germany hopes to continue their war, they need an undead army willing to obey orders. There's also been further interest in the Super Soldat Program, the German Chancellor considers this of high interest. We have begun the cloning process, we will have to see what results we'll yield. Test subject N3WB has been vomiting for two days straight. Our poor janitor, he has nightmares! Needless to say, we will no longer be serving fish. The Russian subject continues to be unresponsive. Doctor Yena suggested a serum made of vodka but considering mein concerns about his loyalty I wonder if this is perhaps another attempt at sabotage. The specimen from Mexico continues to rant incoherently about giant monsters und some uber fun war. Perhaps we were a little too eager with these 115 injections. I did not think he would go this crazy so quickly. (sigh) If I'm being honest, I'm beginning to find this work a little drab und boring. Undead army, Super Soldat programs (sigh) Group 935's deal with Germany has truly limited the organization's potential. The appearance of the spy last month has inspired me to review the blacksmith's schematics, the Agarthan Device and its three components: the Vril Vessel, the Apothicon blood und the Elemental Shard. The instructions to creating the Elemental Shard have my interest... piqued. Four human souls merged with Element 115, not that I'm trying to brag but this may be something in mein wheelhouse.

On August 28th, Richtofen takes note of Pablo's ramblings and decides to pursue creating parts for the Agarthan Device after the recent capture of the Reporter.

 

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Edward Richtofen: Scalpel please, Doctor Yena.

Harvey Yena: Scalpel, Doctor Richtofen.

(Sounds of moving tissues)

Yena: What exactly are you looking for, Doctor Richtofen?

Richtofen: We are attempting to locate an appropriate stimuli that will trigger the brain's involuntary willingness to obey command. Ah, there we are. Forceps, Doctor Yena if you please.

Yena: Forceps, Doctor Richtofen. But the liver and kidneys? Or spleen?

Richtofen: Our goal is to unlock the barrier to the human mind. With Element 115, it is important that we explore every possibility. The barrier may be where we least expect it. There we are. Retractors, please.

Yena: Retractors. It seems the Chancellor has been pushing us harder these last days. Is this because of the spy that was discovered? At the asylum.

Richtofen: I do not know Doctor Yena. Our German leader, along with Doctor Maxis is so limited in his thinking. His goals are simple-minded, childish. He keeps pushing for his undead army when he could have the Elemental Shard.

Yena: The Elemental Shard?

Richtofen: A device capable of endless energy. We could use it to craft anything, including an Agarthan Device of immense power. Hold this open while I grab the injector.

Yena: Agarthan Device? Why haven't I heard about this?

Richtofen: Doctor Yena, do you have a firm grip? You are shaking.

Yena: I'm ready. Please, proceed.

Richtofen: Injecting serum in three, two, one.

(Sounds of an injection can be heard followed by a fast heartbeat)

Richtofen: Hold it open. The injection is nearly complete.

Yena: I can't... hold this... grip.

(The flat line sound from the heart rate monitor can be heard)

Richtofen: Well, I guess the barrier isn't in his spleen. Nincompoop you did this, I knew it! You let go on purpose!

Yena: Richtofen, it was an accident! My-my hand slipped!

Richtofen: Dummkopf!

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"Log Entry: 1471
Date: September 2nd, 1945
Dear diary,
Another day, another failure. This time subject N3WB just slightly improved. The Russian subject still smells like urine. Even after he was given a bath and deloused twice. I think I might have killed the specimen from Mexico. His spleen is on the floor and he's not moving anymore. I can verify with certainty that the barrier is not located in the spleen. Dr. Maxis (static) the cost. I wonder what he might think of the experiments on the little girl... (Edward laughs then a monkey screech is heard.) Nein! Drop that! That's my spleen! Mine!"

Richtofen claims he dissected Pablo in an attempt to "locate an appropriate stimuli that will trigger the brain's involuntary willingness to obey command", or in other words, to unlock the barrier to the human mind. He had Yena hold open a hole in the body as he injected 115, but with Yena's failure to hold it open, Pablo died, and Richtofen deemed the spleen to not be the barrier. With the spleen now on the floor, Richtofen documented the failure, and a monkey attempted to steal the spleen.

 

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Log Entry: 1474.
Date: September 20th, 1945.
Dear Diary,
It would seem that the OSS realized that we have captured one of their spies. They tried to send a rescue team to Verrückt that was aw- (static) -the first batch of test subjects. I suspect that there are others more in the organization. Dr. Harvey Yena and Dr. Peter McCain to be precise. Dr Maxis (static) doesn't any Americans in Group 935, no matter how much genius they have. Stupid Americans with their apple pies and baseball and children, but I digress. The new American test subject is interesting and muscle-y. His intellect seems low, but his will is strong. Like the others, he doesn't seem to know who he is anymore. Unlike the others, he keeps breaking the restraints and yelling at me. Test subject N3WB is still staring at the floor, muttering what sounds like some kind of proverb over and over again. I think his mind may have been destroyed by the process. Oh well, the Russian subject recently begun responding to stimuli, but only after injecting him with a new serum made primarily from vodka. Perhaps this is a breakthrough in the experiment we have been waiting for. Perhaps I was too harsh on Doctor Yena. It was he after all who suggested the vodka serum. Credit where credit is due. Today also marks a great success for one of mein side projects. Using a processed rock of Element 115 und the Vril Vessel, I was able to successfully siphon a piece of the souls of our three specimens und inject them into the rock. Without access to a fouth individual, I used part of mein own essence. Much to mein surprise, the rock grew und transformed, creating a beautiful shard of glass made purely from Element 115... und parts from four human souls. The Vril Vessel, the Elemental Shard. All we need now is the Apothicon blood and the Agarthan Device shall be complete. End log entry 1474 or should I say 1-4-7-4, doesn't matter.

On September 20th, after acquiring a replacement test subject, Richtofen documents his success in creating the Elemental Shard using the souls of his living subjects and himself. Shortly after, the Shard is given to Division 9, and Richtofen is forced to return to Der Riese, taking his test subjects with him. However, he left behind in Siberia the clones of Ultimis, and the Spleen of Pablo, which he decided to preserve. Why?

 

My initial thoughts were that he kept the spleen as he planned to clone Pablo for the Super Soldat Program, in which he cloned the rest of Ultimis. In a drunken stupor, @anonymous posited that maybe the spleen would be a source of stem cells, perfect for cloning! I could buy this as a possibility.

 

Let's take a look at other versions of the spleen in question, first from the Deceptio Fracture:

 

 

^Here we have a photo of Pablo's spleen in a pan, with a very peculiar symbol etched into it. The symbol of the Keepers. Could the Keepers have branded him as a knight in the Great War?

 

In Der Eisendrache we also find a cipher referring to the infamous Report 44:

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The last test subject, the mexican, died but during the autopsy I have discovered the key to create the undead army that we seek. We are now ready to capture the 4 test subjects identified in Report 44.

Report 44 seems to be related to the Agonia fracture, as another cipher referring to it in Zetsubou talks about brothers in a city where one had died, almost certainly Nikolai and his brother. So Pablo's spleen turned out to be the key to creating the Undead Army we see in Gorod Krovi, red eyes and all. This would have to mean Pablo was captured much much earlier than the original timeline to have been around before the Battle of Stalingrad. What could it all mean?

 

Could the spleen have been the key in the Original Timeline to creating the Super Soldat Program instead? Could it have been the key to creating the Elemental Shard, even? Why was it so important it had to be kept in a vat well past its host's demise?

 

 

In Tag der Toten, it plays a role in the Yellow Snowballs side-quest. Pablo asks you to locate his spleen, upgrading your snowballs in return. What is interesting about this quest, is, in order to break the vat holding the spleen, you must find several totems, and then a series of itty-bitty campfires will appear around the map that you must kill zombies next to. Sounds innocuous, but the flames are blue exactly like the flames of the campfire used to purify the Apothican Blood in the main quest. Purifying blood? Sound exactly like what a spleen does. Maybe Richtofen kept the spleen as a way to purify the Apothican Blood whenever he did find it, as that was the last thing he needed to craft the Agarthan Device. Anyway, after doing that you break the vat, and return the frozen spleen to Pablo who says:

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That was my spleen, amigos! You have restored my inner plumbing! Speaking of which, I made these yellow snowballs as my way of saying... gracias.

I'm curious why he wanted it returned after decades of not having it. You can survive without a spleen, but it just makes you susceptible to disease without it. 

 

There are many pieces to this puzzle, and many possible answers to the spleen's significance. What do you guys think?

[anonymous]

Oh boy, a thread for @Lenne! The spleen is an organ, like many, that has several different functions. Research shows that the stem cells of the spleen are likely to be pluripotent, meaning that they can be used to 'generate' every type of humanoid tissue cells from it- ideal for cloning, like you said. 

 

You also mentioned the spleen's function as blood filter. In fact, I think there is no organ related so much with blood as the spleen is. So I assume it's appearance in a game related so much to blood (blood as an insurance policy, blood used to open portals, blood corrupted by the Aether, Apothican blood, etc) is no coincidence.

 

I'm not entirely familiar with the chronology of Pablo's life, but as we learn in Blood of the Dead that when a person travels more between dimensions, their blood will be soaked with Aether. As Pablo, but also the other testsubjects, have been included in a vary of interdimensional events (for Pablo that might even include the cycle he will constantly experience in the future at Tunguska), their blood, and thus their spleens, might be filled with Aether.

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Richtofen, are you there!? Richtofen I (static) most incredible (static) the blood! It does far more than (static) its dimension of origin! (static) (chuckles)... if as though the paradox factor wasn’t enough. If my observa...(static) is the blood itself is the paradox! We know for (static) if the body is changed at a cellular level (static) due to Element 115, resulting in side affects ranging from: memory (static) and death. But, the moment a body steps through a portal, (static) 115 (static) a different reaction. The blood! Indeed, all tissues appear to mutate und then stabilize when exposed to alternate space time realities. Und while delusions and memory (static) factors, the blood is imbued (static) aetheric energy! Herr Doctor, they (static) searched for since the very beginning (static).

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New findings have come to light. Yes, the moment one travels through a portal powered by Element 115, their blood is changed. The evidence is conclusive. Today, I have discovered that the effect is actually cumulative; the more one travels through the Aether, the more they absorb into their bodies. While undeath does not appear to ever be a risk, the potency of one's etheric cells increases. The blood of the prisoners you sampled and that of your now frozen compatriots contained trace, but significant amounts, but your blood, Edward. You have traveled through countless realities of space und time. Your blood is not only beyond potent, I fear it is a profound liability. 

Concerning the blood-puryfying, Nikolai once says that "the Apothicon's are creatures primordial corruption. You must be their purifier! Tame the blood you collect". We also have that Yena radio about Apothican blood consisting of a lot of small organisms. Still gotta dive into that.

 

12 hours ago, RadZakpak said:

So Pablo's spleen turned out to be the key to creating the Undead Army we see in Gorod Krovi, red eyes and all.

This reminded me of the connection between red eyes and Apothican blood you made a while ago. Is Pablo's infected spleen the reason why the undead army in Stalingrad has red eyes? How Pablo could've gotten a Black Sun symbol on his spleen, though, I wouldn't know. Is this also on the spleen encountered in Tag? One last interesting radio found in CotD:

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I still have not had any luck reprogramming any of the live specimens. Dr. Maxis says the key to unlocking the human mind will be more easily discovered on someone who isn't dead yet.

 

[RadZakpak]

2 hours ago, anonymous said:

How Pablo could've gotten a Black Sun symbol on his spleen, though, I wouldn't know. Is this also on the spleen encountered in Tag? One last interesting radio found in CotD:

 

I tried getting a good look, and I couldn't see one. Though, it was cryogenically frozen so it is mostly white, and the symbol could be obscured. But it is also possible the symbol is exclusive to the fractures.

[anonymous]

Okay lets set up a hypothesed situation, wonder what you guys think. There is a guy named John A living in Universe 1. John B lives in Universe 63. John AA lives in a fracture of Universe 1. If merely John B would travel through space-time, would also John A's blood be affected by the Aether? And if only John AA travels trough space-time? Is the blood of different versions of the same character connected?

[RadZakpak]

1 hour ago, anonymous said:

Okay lets set up a hypothesed situation, wonder what you guys think. There is a guy named John A living in Universe 1. John B lives in Universe 63. John AA lives in a fracture of Universe 1. If merely John B would travel through space-time, would also John A's blood be affected by the Aether? And if only John AA travels trough space-time? Is the blood of different versions of the same character connected?

A good question, and I'm inclined to say yes under certain circumstances because of one character in particular after giving some thought.

 

In Alpha Omega Peter is reawakened as a wisp and put into an ADAM. He doesn't remember what happened at Camp Edward in '68, but he comes to recognize Ultimis and Primis, in particular Dempsey. He asks Dempsey if they wiped Group 935 off the face of the earth, which, shouldn't he know given he was Deputy Director of Broken Arrow for quite a while? But besides that, he recognizes everyone in Primis/Ultimis, not just U Richtofen and U Dempsey. He may have recognized U Takeo and U Nikolai as test subjects after Moon, but he shouldn't recognize Primis. That is, unless he is remembering the version of himself from the fractures, which still had both arms and ended up in Stalingrad, and potentially Revelations if the trailer is considered canon. It's possible he's just recognizing each pair of them as a single person, but why not question why there are two?

[anonymous]

@RadZakpak and I had a short discussion yesterday on the Discord of which I elt obligated to share here, because frankly, to me, it was eye-opening.

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"The last test subject, the mexican, died but during the autopsy I have discovered the key to create the undead army that we seek. We are now ready to capture the 4 test subjects identified in Report 44"

During autopsy of Pablo, a Group 935 scientist discovered the key to create the undead army. Consider the following radios recorded in the Siberian Facility, from either Call of the Dead or Tag der Toten.

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"Dr. Maxis says the key to unlocking the human mind will be more easily discovered on someone who isn't dead yet. I am not convinced. The army is stored until I can fix this, this trust barrier." - Richtofen

 

"Aah, hopefully with proper 115 injections we will be able to use these specimens to access the human mind. The Chancellor's undead army is on standby until we crack this crucial step." - Richtofen

 

"Dear diary, progress continues on unlocking the human mind. If Germany hopes to continue their war, they need an undead army willing to obey orders." - Richtofen

The 'key' mentioned in the Report 44 cipher seems to be related to unlocking the human mind, to, as stated in the OP, trigger the brain's involuntary willingness to obey command. This Key was find during the autopsy of Pablo, and given all the relevance his spleen got, this organ must be the key. How can the spleen have anything to do with mind control? And perhaps more important, why were the four specific subjects mentioned in Report 44 required for this investigation? After all, once the "key" was discovered in Pablo's spleen, Group 935 was now ready to capture the 4 specific subjects. Another mention of Report 44 was in a cipher in Zetsubou no Shima:

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"Of the 4 test subjects highlighted in Report 44, one of the brothers has died before we could reach him in the battle. The other is still at large in the city."

This battle for a city refers to the Battle of Stalingrad, and Gorod Krovi. One of the testsubjects died in this battle, the other still lives. His name: Nikolai Belinski. We know that in the Agonia fracture Group 935 contaminated the Red Army, killing and zombifyinig most of the people in Stalingrad, leaving only immune survivors. Rad theorized the possibility that this is the relevance of the specific 4 subjects mentioned in Report 44: Their immunity to Element 115. They identified four survivors with immunity that they wanted to study and dissect to either make a more effective method of contamination or to protect themselves from contamination. Surely Group 935 didn't want to make an infectious undead army without having the cure for it themselves; after all, this WMD would be useless if it would affect Wehrmacht troops as well. 

 

Pablo was immune. During his dissection they found an abnomality in his spleen causing this immunity, as this is what the spleen is: The immunological filter of the blood. Both Pablo and Richtofen mention that Pablo is injected with 115, injected in his veins and blood. We know from Blood of the Dead that 115-infected blood can lead to certain oddities, but can an abnormal mutated spleen lead to the antidote and to immunity for ethereal mindcontrol?

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"Remember we are only immune because we opened the portal in France" - Maxis

It seems like Primis aquired their immunity by entering the Crazy Place in Origins. As Primis and Ultimis are the same characters, it seems to me that via Primis' actions, Ultimis gained this immunity as well. This could be why Nikolai, Takeo and Dempsey are so special and likely the subjects mentioned in Report 44. During Richtofen's Grand Scheme, Ultimis are not contacted by Samantha (like Stuhlinger by Richtofen), despite their blood being full of 115. Why didn't Samantha use Nikolai, Takeo and Dempsey as puppets against Richtofen? I think the reason they aren't influenced by Samantha is because of their spleens and their immunity, the immunity they got because their Primis counterparts went through the events of Origins.

 

Lastly, who is the fourth subject mentioned in Report 44? Despite his immunity, he seems to have died (by other reasons) before Group 935 could reach him. He is mentioned to be a brother of Nikolai. The fact Nikolai has a brother is confirmed by Monty in Revelations (where he states Nikolai has a brother he never brings up) and even in the Ultimis Christmas songs ("reminds me of my brother, he is broke"). But who is this other Belinski?

 

 

 

It is no one else than Tricky Vik, who goes under the name Viktor Reznov. Why? Look at Gorod Krovi and all the Reznov references: A cipher written by one 'V' and achievement called 'Viktorious revenge', which you earn when completing all trials. These trials can be done by a tombstone, and combining this with the name of the achievent it seems to me that Reznov has passed away. What's more, this tombstone has the following message on it: 'Vengeance is mine' - VR

 

Not to forget, in the 'V' cipher, it is literally mentioned that "I fear, however, I will not live to see this. - V"

The evidence is there that this is Reznov's gravestone, and that he died in the battle of Stalingrad. Now the cipher about Report 44 talks about how one of the brothers died in the battle, so could this be a hint to this gravestone and Reznov? What's more, though we don't know Nikolai's place of birth, the last name 'Belinski' originates from the Finland/Saint Petersburg region (northwest) of the Soviet Union. Who else was born in Saint Petersburg? You guessed it, Viktor Reznov. The one thing that buggers me though is how Reznov could have aqcuired his immunity. Did he got in touch with the Aether himself as well?