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Emma Emmerich Danziger, or E.E. as she was known to her close friends and family, was the stepsister of Hal "Otacon" Emmerich and the engineer of GW, the AI system of Arsenal Gear.

Biography

Early life and career

When she was young, Emma lived with her stepbrother, stepfather and mother, and was very happy, sharing a close relationship with her stepbrother (neither she nor Hal had any close friends, and as children they would play house and pretend to be husband and wife). However, during the mid 1990s, she became distanced from Hal after a tragic incident in which her stepfather committed suicide by drowning. A then-six year old Emma almost died herself, after being dragged underwater. She had called desperately for Hal, but he hadn't heard her (he had been sleeping with her mother at the time, something that Emma briefly witnessed[1]), and thus didn't come to help. Emma was scarred by the experience and thus Hal and Emma became separated after the death. It was this incident which gave Emma an intense aquaphobia.

After that, Hal left home. Emma blamed him for abandoning her when she needed him most. After that, she grew a deep resentment for her brother. After the accident, Emma's mother took her to England and raised her there. After returning home to England, her mother married Robinson, a businessman. Several years later, just before graduating from high school, Emma injured Robinson in self-defense during an alleged sexual assault on her person.[2] As a result of this incident, she followed in the footsteps of her stepbrother, and left home to enroll in Oxford, where she studied artificial intelligence and complex logic.

At this point, she was extremely angered by the fact that her brother failed to protect her. Consequently, she lost all family connections and became extremely resentful. While attending Oxford, she was noted for her success in a deciphering event sponsored by British GCHQ.

On January 24, 2000, Emma, one of the key members of a notorious hacker group, assisted in a signal data hacking assault on the NSA facility in Fort Meade, which suffered a total system shutdown for a 72-hour period. The result was a full review of NSA's safety measures, which in turn led to the decision to shift the data-gathering operations to an isolated location that would be safe from physical attack as well as cyber-terrorism (in other words, the start of the Arsenal Gear project).

After the NSA attack, she was approached by the NSA for her computer genius which would be extremely useful in intelligence. Although she didn't join at first, the government leaked her the details of her brother's involvement in 2005. Having a chance to get back at her brother, she joined them. As a test of her skill she was involved as one of the key crackers (professional hackers) in an incident that is famous among hackers. In 2007, Emma leaked information about Metal Gear RAY to Philanthropy (the anti-Metal Gear NGO of which Hal was a member) under the name E.E.[3] It was also suspected that she may have leaked it to frame her brother, Otacon, as part of her grudge against him, although whether she was actually aware of this or not is never revealed.[4]

As she grew up, Emma's remarkable talent for computers and technology became apparent. She was eventually recruited by the Patriots and set to work on programming GW, a highly advanced AI which would be used by the Patriots to control the flow of digital information and the imparting of "memes" between the generations. Despite working for them, Emma knew very little about the organization and its aims.

The Manhattan Incident

See also: Tanker Incident and the Big Shell Incident
Emma

Emma Emmerich

In 2009, the facility developing Arsenal Gear (the armed mobile fortress which would house the GW AI) was captured and Emma was held as a hostage. During her time as a hostage, the Sons of Liberty also injected a drug (artificially synthesized phenobarbital) into her system so they could find out how to hack into GW. Although she knew that a test was going to be conducted at the Big Shell, she did not know that the Sons of Liberty's takeover of the Big Shell was part of the test in question. FOXHOUND operative Raiden was sent to rescue her, which he did after navigating a collapsed passage, which was flooded with water, and defeating Dead Cell member Vamp. During this time, Emma held out on her own by barricading herself in the locker room. Raiden rescued her after dispatching Vamp for the second time, although she was afraid that Raiden was a member of the terrorist group and trying to trick her into being relocated. Similar to her stepbrother Otacon during the Shadow Moses Incident, Emma wet herself upon being confronted by an armed stranger. She eventually realized that Raiden was trying to save her when he showed her his Codec nanomachines and that he was not a member of the Sons of Liberty. Despite this, however, she still stubbornly refused to swim as a means to escape, due to her phobia of water. Eventually, Raiden helped Emma to overcome her phobia, and the two of them made it back to the stable section of the Big Shell.

In order to meet with Solid Snake and Otacon, Emma had to cross a series of oil fences, since the main bridge connecting the two halves of the facility had collapsed due to Raiden's previous fight with the terrorists' Harrier. Snake and Raiden covered her progress by taking up sniper positions against Gun Cyphers and the guards. While crossing the fence, Emma encountered Gurlukovich Mercenary Johnny Sasaki, who was somewhat dumbfounded upon finding a girl in the facility, but decided to let her go due to "ancient history" (referring to his experience with Meryl Silverburgh in 2005). As Emma neared the end of the final pipe, however, she was attacked by Vamp, who had survived his earlier battle with Raiden. Although Raiden "killed" him by shooting him, Vamp stabbed Emma as he used her as a human shield moments before getting shot. The stab wound was estimated by Snake to have pierced her intestinal tract, and be as large as the actual wound.[5]

Snake carried Emma to the computer room in the Shell 1 Core, where she could upload a worm cluster that would disable GW, and it was there that she was reunited with her brother. Despite the best efforts of Snake and Otacon, her bleeding wouldn't stop, as she needed abdominal surgery, something that was not available. Suffering from massive internal hemorrhaging, Otacon held his sister in his arms, trying his best to console her. Even when the worm's upload progress abruptly halted at ninety percent, and it seemed uncertain that it would work, he kept telling her that everything was alright. Emma then told Otacon that she had become involved in the development of Arsenal Gear not to hurt him, but so that he would "look at [her] as a woman," to which he responded "I could never do that." As a final wish, while reaching up and taking her brother's glasses from his face, she asked her brother to call her "Emma," before passing away. Otacon, realizing his sister was indeed gone, broke down emotionally and revealed that his affair with her mother (Hal's stepmother) had caused his father to commit suicide (the drowning was not an accident). As a booming voice echoed through the room's loudspeakers, warning of Arsenal Gear's eventual departure, Otacon regained his composure, albeit reluctantly, and proceeded to rescue the hostages from the Big Shell before it collapsed, leaving his sister as the water consumed both her and the entirety of the facility.

After death

The Colonel AI later mimicked Emma's voice while speaking to Raiden, saying, "Didn't I tell you that GW was still incomplete? But not anymore, thanks to you."

In 2014, Sunny found Emma's worm cluster data within the Nomad's virtual library and used it to perfect Naomi Hunter's prototype virus used to eliminate all of the Patriots’ AIs, but left certain key factors in the world intact.

Personality and traits

EmmaE

Emma

Although Emma wore glasses, she never actually needed them, as she did so in imitation of her brother.

Feeling as though her beloved brother had abandoned her in her youth, Emma grew up resentful of Otacon, and desired some form of revenge. She decided to do this by beating him at his own game, in this case, his aptitude for computer technology, and willingly joined the Arsenal Gear project to work as an AI developer. When accused of being a criminal by Otacon, she retorted that he was the same, having illegally modified their shared internet account, sometime prior to the Big Shell Incident, as an example of his hacking activities. She also claimed that science was to be used for accomplishing one's own dreams, in response to Otacon's view that science should benefit the world. However, Snake, when hearing this comment from Emma, also stated that was the "line that scientists were never meant to cross," and felt she was speaking with her mind, rather than her heart.

Emma had an intense fear of bugs, refusing to pass through a sea lice-infested hallway of the Big Shell, until they were cleared away by Raiden. She also posssessed severe aquaphobia, a fear of water, due to the trauma of the accident that resulted in her stepfather Huey Emmerich's death and nearly her own. The aquaphobia was severe enough that she was unwilling to even wear a bathing suit. She also was nervous around heights, although she considered it lower on her phobia list than water. Indeed, when informed by Raiden about the height of a ladder that they needed to climb down, she briefly turned away and considered saying no about wanting to climb down.

Emma owned a parrot during the Big Shell Incident.

Behind the scenes

Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty

1 Emma Emmerich

Emma Emmerich concept art.

The name Emma Emmerich Danziger (エマ・エメリッヒ・ダンジガー Ema Emerihhi Danjigā?) is a reference to the scientist Dr. E.E. Danziger, from the novel Time and Again. Her first name is also the same as the EMMA pulse theory, which formed part of Solidus Snake's supposed plan for Arsenal Gear.

Upon returning to the Shell 2 Core B1 Filtration Chamber 2, with Emma in tow, if the player saves the game, Rosemary (Raiden's girlfriend) becomes jealous of the attention he gives Emma, accusing him of being attracted to her, with Raiden admitting that he finds Emma cute. If the player presses the R1 button during a Codec conversation with Emma (while she is speaking), Raiden's thoughts will say "How cute!"; he also thinks the same of Rosemary.

When Emma is crossing the Strut L Oil Fence, the player can use to directional microphone to hear several different conversations:

  • If the player points the directional microphone anytime at Emma, they can hear how she feels about the situation.
  • When Emma reaches the first structure, the player can hear what Emma thinks about Raiden, as well as hint that she thinks Raiden's hair is fake.[6] If the player calls Emma after hearing the conversation, Raiden will retort, explaining that his hair is actually real.
  • When Emma gets to the second structure, the player can hear the conversation between Emma and Johnny.
  • The final conversation is a humorous comment made towards Solid Snake's feelings towards Emma. If the player uses the directional microphone and points it to where Snake is sniping from afar, the player can hear him say "Should I clear things with Otacon before I ask her out...?" inferring that Snake had a small infatuation for Emma.
Peace walker emma

An Emma Emmerich-look alike female volunteer soldier in Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker.

At one point, if Raiden interacted with her pet parrot, it will say "Venus in Cancer." In the Japanese version, the translation was actually supposed to be the "Venusian Crab", referring to a character in the movie It Conquered the World. However, the reference was lost in translation. If the player tranquilizes Emma with the M9, she can be heard to say "Venus in Cancer" in her sleep, if contacted by Codec. "Venus in Cancer" is also the zodiacal correspondence of the two of cups in Aleister Crowley's Thoth tarot deck, which is also called "Love." This may be a reference to Emma's true feelings for her brother as both "Hal" and "Venus in Cancer" are repeated frequently by her parrot.

During her explanation on what she knows of the Patriots plans, she briefly mentions that the 26-letter alphabet could have had 30 letters at one point before the Patriots edited the other letters out. This was a subtle reference to the Japanese alphabet and the characters "La Li Lu Le Lo," which acted as the Patriots censored codename via nanomachine implants.

Like Otacon, Emma also had a poster of Policenauts in her office. In an optional Codec conversation, Raiden tells Rosemary "What kind of dork brings all this stuff to work? Must be a super freak!"

In director Hideo Kojima's "Grand Game Plan" for Metal Gear Solid 2, Emma would have been captured by the enemy, and Snake and Raiden would have also been tortured by Fortune and Vamp (the former seemingly dying from the injuries, and the latter via sodium penthanol) after their attempt to rescue her backfired, and she would have ended up dying from the torture. In addition, she would not have been fooled by the Cyborg Ninja and deduced that it was one of Arsenal Gear's illusions.

Other appearances

In the Metal Gear Solid novelization by Raymond Benson, Otacon briefly referenced Emma after he and Snake first meet.[7]

A volunteer female soldier in Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker shares a resemblance with Emma.

Appearances

Notes and references

  1. ^ Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (script), Konami Computer Entertainment Japan (2001).
    Otacon: You could see the pool from my room... but I didn’t realize at the time that she needed my help. // Raiden: What were you doing? // Otacon: I... I was... // [Actually Emma saw what was going on before she almost drowned.] [1]
  2. ^ Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (script), Konami Computer Entertainment Japan (2001).
    Colonel: Just before graduating from high school, Emma injured Robinson in self-defense during an alleged (sexual) assault on her person.
  3. ^ Metal Gear Solid 4 Database, Kojima Productions (2008). [2]
  4. ^ Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, Konami Computer Entertainment Japan (2001).
    The Colonel tells Raiden this in a Codec conversation relating to her past.
  5. ^ Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, Konami Computer Entertainment Japan (2001).
    Raiden: How's Emma doing? // Snake: Not very good. I can't do a detailed examination here, but it looks like the damage to her muscle tissue is equal to the actual size of the wound. // Raiden: What're you trying to say? // Snake: That there's the possibility of intestinal damage. Added to that, she's bleeding bad... losing blood pressure... She needs abdominal surgery! But this ain't the place to do it! I've plugged the wound as best as I can... but it isn't gonna be enough. She's running out of time. We have to hurry!
  6. ^ Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, Konami Computer Entertainment Japan (2001)
    Emma Emmerich: Phew -- safe, I guess. If I've managed to get this far, it must be thanks to that Raiden guy, huh... But he's -- well, what IS the deal with him? He's got a weird name, he dresses pretty weird, too. And I'm not really sure about the way he holds my hand and things... He's easy on the eyes though, so I guess I can let that slide... (giggles) But I've got my own ideas about that hair... I wonder if it's -- well, it must be. I could ask him later -- oh, but he'd probably get ticked off. I'll leave him alone.
  7. ^ Metal Gear Solid by Raymond Benson, Del Rey Books (2008).
    Emmerich was about to protest more, but the scruffy man in the dark uniform intimidated him. // "All right. I wish E.E. were here to help us. She's "great" at computer programming." // "Who's E.E.?" // "My sister Emma. Emma Emmerich. Well, her full name is Emma Emmerich-Danziger. She works for the government, too. Systems analyst for the NSA. Oh, well. She and I don't get along too well, anyway. We haven't spoken in a long time."

See also

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