Bang Bang Fire
Bang Bang Fire, or BBF, is the Shapen Sister who supervises the military and defense of the Orchard. Despite this, she is gentle and kind, preferring pacifist means over violence. She is dedicated to her job, caring deeply for her sisters' safety. BBF often speaks in poetic or philosophical ways, making it difficult for others to understand her musings.
Personality[edit | edit source]
Bang Bang Fire is a compassionate and gentle sister. She practices mindfulness and teaches it to her disciples. Violence is a last resort to her, as she prefers de-escalation, re-direction, and preventative measures first. Bang Bang Fire highly values life and feels immense guilt when others die, even when she is acting in self-defense.
Bang Bang Fire is sentimental, and has an appreciation for life and the beauty of world around her. She uses poetic and flowery language when she talks, often speaking in metaphor and pondering philosophical questions out loud. She enjoys dispensing the "ancient idioms" that is "knock knock" jokes, and drinking and dancing at the bar when she is off-duty.
History[edit | edit source]
While no Occupants had breached The Orchard during BBF's lifetime before, BBF is aware that even all the firearms in the Orchard could not seriously hurt an Occupant. Because of this, BBF focuses less on improving the Orchard's military might, and instead prioritizes making sure her fellow sisters are in good condition. Her function is responsible for monitoring the surface for signs of Occupant activity, as well as training Shells to be prepared for combat, as well as be able to safely evacuate The Orchard.
BBF: Against a foe with superior forces, our strike should be surgical. My predecessors knew this principle... If one has the luxury to prepare for battle, don't spend time crafting a thousand swords... sharpen one sword for a thousand years.
WATCHER: What is that sword?
BBF: It is us, Watcher. We are the sword. The ALLMOTHER is the sharpener. (ch. 4)
Therefore, BBF often spends her time promoting wellness endeavors, such as practicing the "Eight Strands of Silken Hair" (yoga), and teaching "peace theory and oneness" to shells under her command.
WATCHER: I imagine [BBF] suggests we "be like water." (ch. 2)
Communion With Watcher[edit | edit source]
During her communion, Watcher and BB explore the apartment where Iris spent her adolescence. She is intrigued by the droplets of water falling from the sky outside their apartment, and is taught what rain is. She is enamoured with the sight and sounds, and spends much of the communion observing the weather.
When observing Iris's birthday party, Bang Bang Fire is disgusted by the sight of humans eating solid food.
BANG BANG FIRE: That pursing orifice. Opening. Closing. That endless bound of gut. (ch.2)
Together, they witness Iris leaving her family behind to join The 50. After the communion, BB and Watcher go to the Shell together. Watcher struggles to come to terms with the pain Iris caused her parents, and BB consoles her by reminding her that sacrifices are necessary for survival.
BANG BANG FIRE: Well, a dull knife is no knife at all.
WATCHER: Yes. But. To desert them like that.
BANG BANG FIRE: Oh, Watcher. The way a pack must cull its sick... The way a prey must eat its kin...
BANG BANG FIRE: Hestitation--- we know too well, and even weller now--- hestitation is the second-in-command to extinction. (ch.2)
She then joins the other Shells and dances.
On the day of Iris's birthday, she leads a yoga class to help "juice the flow of devotion".
Some time later, a new Fixer is appointed. She is monitoring for signs of Occupant activity, and urges Watcher to congratulate her new sister and guilts Watcher into leaving with a knock knock joke.
Occupant Attack[edit | edit source]
That night, occupant activity is detected, and BBF raises an alarm, alerting everyone in the Orchard to brace. The alarm is too late, and some Shells are caught in the open and unable to secure themselves, and at least one Knower-type shell falls and loses her mask.
While many of the sisters are able to evacuate into the tunnels underneath the Orchard, they take many casualties. BBF remains alone near the entrance, distraught over her failure to protect everyone.
On the Run[edit | edit source]
Later on in that night, Knower approached Healer and Bang Bang Fire to deliver a warning. The two sisters fled to Old Town, where Bartender was able to hide her under the floorboards. They hid for two months before an old friend, Fixer (presumed dead) came to rescue them.
BBF spent the following years on the train with her sisters. It can be assumed that she was responsible for defending their train against the Red Guard and other forces of the Provisional Government. By 3AA, she had suffered injuries requiring the replacement of her left arm and leg with prosthetics, although it is unknown if this is from combat, or an accident.
It can be assumed that as Principal expanded activity on the Other Side with the printing of Jiao-type clones, BBF would help monitor tracks for other trains and defend their party. By 7AA, the Orchard and Old Town are plastered with Wanted posters of the rogue sister, and Red Guards comment that she wanders the train tracks, firing upon any sisters she finds. It is later shown that BBF is deeply conflicted and traumatised by killing her own sisters, killing only when necessary and attempting to de-escalate where she can. Therefore, it can be assumed that her depiction as a bogeyman is exaggerated for the purpose of propaganda.
After Blue sets off a bomb at the play commemorating the ALLMOTHER's passing, BBF provides cover for Secretary as he extracts the Miscellaneous. When Blue is nearly apprehended before boarding the train, Bang Bang Fire appears from behind and kills the Red Guard before ordering Blue onto the tran.
We learn that the old sisters have been on the train for years, organizing a resistance against the Provisional Government. BBF has been responsible for guarding them when the situation called for it. She is angry that she's had to kill sisters to survive, sometimes out of necessity, sometimes because she was deceived into doing so.
BBF: (to Fixer) How about I speak your language: Let the murderers do the murdering. Leave me out of it. (ch. 8)
-Relationship with other sisters while on train
Facing the possibility that their train be stopped, BBF stubbornly refuses to consider leaving Watcher behind, insisting to Healer that she would carry Watcher out, and all the equipment she needed to cling onto life.
HEALER: Remember what our functions have in common. Both require us to separate our heartbreak from our hand.
BANG BANG FIRE: Well this is my hand talking: Try again.
Like the other sisters, she is hesitant to accept Blue into the team, wary of the violence she committed, and uncomfortable with the parasocial relationship formed after Blue's communion into Watcher's memories. She refuses to tell any stories of "skirmishes on the tracks" with the Red Guard, or divulge many details about Watcher and Fixer's division. Blue can try to cheer her up with a knock knock joke.
BANG BANG FIRE: Wasn't I the one who said, "A dull knife is no knife at all"...?
BLUE: Maybe...no knife at all...isn't so bad.
When Watcher is lucid for the final time, Bang Bang Fire commands Blue to hide the fact that she is dying, wanting her spare her from any unnecessary pain. After Blue emerges from the communion, BB and Healer walk and discover Watcher dead. When Fixer reports that the train is broken beyond repair, BBF begs to carry Watcher's body out, but is overruled by her sisters.
They walk to the bridge of the Pacific 50, and while the other sisters look to gain control, BBF kneels with a flashlight in order to guide Watcher's spirit. As Blue replays the events leading to the death of all crew aboard the ship, the silhouettes of deceased crewmembers can be seen congregating around her light.
As the trains carrying their collaborates arrive at the station, Bang Bang Fire snaps back into action, guarding the escalator up to the bridge and exerting authority over the other clones.
(TK: get screenshot)
Initiating The Mass Communion[edit | edit source]
(TK: Her reaction to Watcher's plan?)
With all parties agreed, Bang Bang Fire accompanies Fixer, Healer, and Blue as they infiltrate the Orchard. She stands guard, and when an elevator carrying Capital Red and a Red Guard arrives, is able to shoot immediately and kill the Red Guard, forcing the white guard into cover.
She tries in vain to get Capital Red to surrender, and is shot by the former Shell.
Once Secretary initiates the Mass Communion and merges with Source, BBF is seen observing some potted plants with Healer by her side.
BBF: Tell me again about the virus and the host. Tell me again how the virus infiltrates, donning the host's likeness and function so that they are indistinguishable from one another.
HEALER: ...let me work on an antidote.
BBF: ...ribbons of their guts...in my wake.
HEALER: (softly) BB...
BBF: What if it was you I had shot in the face...? (ch. X)
BBF is haunted by all the deaths on her conscience – the sisters who died in the Occupant quake, and the Red Guards she has had to kill. Because BBF feels responsible for all the deaths and murder, she feels like she is no different than the murderers of the Red Guard, comparing herself to a virus. She is last seen being shot and falling through the doorway into a corridor. Healer can be seen at the end of the hallway, but is facing away from the room she was in.
While Blue makes her choice regarding who survives, BBF is seen on her back, wounded, with Healer on her knees beside her. It is unclear whether she is still alive at this point.
Epilogue[edit | edit source]
In the Epitaphs true endings, is not directly stated if BBF had immediately succumbed to Mauve's gunshot wound. In Epitaphs (Red), BBF is noted to have "fought the gun and lost". This could imply either that that BBF survived but later committed suicide with a gun, or more likely, that Mauve's gunshot was fatal (given that BBF had an "impossible conversation" with Healer, which involve at least one dead person in all other shown conversations).
| Epitaphs (Blue) | Epitaphs (Red) |
|---|---|
| REMAINS: Remember a philosophizing Bang Bang Fire who hated her role and was difficult to understand. She carried the past with her like a shadow. She was happier when she was drunk. For you, something funny.
?????: I wouldn't mind something funny! |
REMAINS: Here lies a Bang Bang Fire with clumsy wandering roots who fought the gun and lost. Let your hands be clean now. You are swimming. Hekki grace.
?????: I'll place candies here. |
Relationships[edit | edit source]
Watcher[edit | edit source]
BBF: Knock knock
WATCHER: I don't understand.
BBF: Knock knock. Who's there? It's me, your sister!
WATCHER: I know who you are. (ch. 2)
Healer[edit | edit source]
buddies
Fixer[edit | edit source]
fellow fugitive
Blue[edit | edit source]
BLUE: Can I just say... knock knock?
BBF: !!!
BBF: ...who's...there?
Blue: Tank.
BBF: Tank who?
Blue: You're welcome! (ch. 8)
Blue is friendly towards BBF, as she feels close to her due to experiencing Watcher's memories in the communion. BBF however, knows nothing about Blue, and treats her with apprehension at first. BBF thinks of blue as a terrorist and tells Blue, "if you are so acquainted with me then you must know that... I don't trust murderers." Blue simply says that she's the same, and that they're two murderers who hate other murderers.
As more time passes on the train, and Blue continues to comfort and assist the other sisters, BBF becomes less wary of Blue. Blue even manages to cheer BBF up by telling her a knock-knock joke.
Gallery[edit | edit source]
BBF
BBF: ..even when plucked from the same head, no two hairs are the same
square icon, BBF: Knock Knock (ch.2)
BBF: You remember the old world wisdom? Knock knock (ch.2)
BBF showing off her "dance grooves" at the bar (ch.2)
BBF philosophizing
BBF's room on the Train (ch.8)
BBF post-time skip. Her right arm and leg have been replaced with prosthetics (ch.9)
BBF and Healer during the mass communion, in a communal garden (ch.X)
BBF and the other exiled Sisters under a lamp post (ch.X)
BBF logo ( 爆 )
BBF concept art
BBF bust shot
Some crew members gather around BBF's lamp (ch.9)
Bang Bang Fire in 7AA (ch.9)
Quotes[edit | edit source]
- BBF: You remember the old world wisdom? Knock knock!
WATCHER: BB...
BBF: Don't be shy.
WATCHER: (sigh) Who's there?
BBF: ... No one! Because Iris left.
WATCHER: ...
BBF: Her room is empty! (ch.2) - WATCHER: ...they loved her. Did you know? The sharpness of her sacrifice?
BBF: Well, a dull knife is no knife at all. (ch.2) - BBF: How would you like to experience my collection of dance grooves? (ch.2)
Trivia[edit | edit source]
- BBF's text color is #FFA900.
- BBF instructing Military Shell to "Be [like] water." is based on a Bruce Lee quote that became a guiding slogan for the 2019 Hong Kong protesters.[1]