User blog:ZeroTigress/The Ragnarök Theorist: The Tale of Two Fires

Hello again, people! Welcome to another chapter of The Ragnarök Theorist, the blog where we explore the backside of water Ragnarok Online's ever puzzling lore.

Today we're investigating the Regenschirm Laboratory fire which left quite a mark on the Rekenber Corporation. If you ever get to explore the laboratory yourself, you'll notice that as you move to the lower floors, there are more and more noticeable evidences of a fire having ransacked the lower levels. Participating in the Episode 10 quests reveals a sinister side to the Rekenber Corporation that they may or may not be aware of. However, several quests suggest that Rekenber did not deal with just one, but TWO major fires. Both of which occurred within laboratories. (So flammable, those laboratories of theirs. You'd think they'd take more precautions concerning flammable materials.) :U

Once again, thar be spoilers up ahead, mateys!!!

The story begins with two scientists name Morriphen and Dono who joined up with the Rekenber Corporation and eventually headed the Weapons Research and Genetic Engineering departments. Their ultimate goal for Rekenber were to create super soldiers and arm them with the latest weapons. One day, Morriphen encounters a female Norman that Dono was experimenting with. He falls in love with her and things start to get complicated as Rekenber decides to shut down the Genetic Engineering department and dispose of everything produced from it. Not wanting to lose the female artificial Norman that he's fallen in love with, Morriphen sets the laboratory on fire and runs off with the experiment.

Now, a newspaper article describes a fire as being large enough to be seen from Juno. Seeing as how Lighthalzen is the farthest city from Juno, and the fire in the Regenschirm Laboratory took place below ground, there's absolutely no way anyone in Juno would've seen the Regenschirm Laboratory fire. Therefore, this fire that was seen from Juno had to have been from another laboratory, especially since this fire allegedly burned down the entire building (Rekenber's HQ is still standing well, as far as I can see). The laboratory in which this other fire took place was one that produced mutants like Zid and Eva. Considering they ended up fleeing north of Einbroch, it makes the most sense that the laboratory was hidden somewhere near Einbroch (can't really get very far looking like a mutant without some adventurer coming along to kill you for loot). Since there's no evidence of a building having been burnt down in Einbroch, it lends the belief that the laboratory was built off the grid—outside of the city.

Judging from the story of Morriphen's Request and The Crow of Fate, it makes the most sense for these two stories to have taken place at the Einbroch laboratory since Morriphen and his female Norman experiment were said to have fled to the mountains. The mountains near Lighthalzen are simply MUCH too far away to be able to get to on foot and the two of them were able to end up in Hugel, which is closer to Einbroch than Lighthalzen. Einbroch seems the more likely location of the secret laboratory, especially since Dono and his subordinate Makkie were both found working within Lighthalzen. If Dono and Makkie had been fired from the laboratory in Lighthalzen, the last placed they'd want to work in would be Lighthalzen considering how tight of a hold Rekenber has on that city.

Now the question remains as to what started the Regenschirm Laboratory fire. If Morriphen wasn't the one who started that particular fire, then the most likely suspect is one of the many kidnapped people who were used for Wolfchev's experiments. Which then begs the question as to how any of them were able to break free long enough to start a fire considering Rekenber's tight security. (Then again, you can sneak into the Regenschirm Laboratory with just a pair of Geek Glasses and a Grampa Beard, so maybe it wasn't that hard for one of the test subjects to set something on fire.)

But hey, that's just a theory; a Ragnarök theory!

Thanks for reading!