Colonel : To begin with -- we're not what you'd call -- human.
Over the past two hundred years -- A kind of
consciousness formed layer by layer in the crucible of
the White House. It's not unlike the way life started
in the oceans four billion years ago. The White House
was our primordial soup, a base of evolution --
We are formless. We are the very discipline and
morality that Americans invoke so often. How can
anyone hope to eliminate us? As long as this nation
exists, so will we.
Raiden : Cut the crap! If you're immortal, why would you take
away individual freedoms and censor the Net?
Rose : Jack, don't be silly.
Colonel : Don't you know that our plans have your interests --
not ours -- in mind?
Raiden : What?
Rose : Jack, listen carefully like a good boy!
Colonel : The mapping of the human genome was completed early
this century. As a result, the evolutionary log of the
human race lay open to us.
Rose : We started with genetic engineering, and in the end,
we succeeded in digitizing life itself.
Colonel : But there are things not covered by genetic information.
Raiden : What do you mean?
Colonel : Human memories, ideas. Culture. History.
Rose : Genes don't contain any record of human history.
Colonel : Is it something that should not be passed on? Should
that information be left at the mercy of nature?
Rose : We've always kept records of our lives. Through words,
pictures, symbols... from tablets to books...
Colonel : But not all the information was inherited by later
generations. A small percentage of the whole was
selected and processed, then passed on. Not unlike
genes, really.
Rose : That's what history is, Jack.
Colonel : But in the current, digitized world, trivial
information is accumulating every second, preserved in
all its triteness. Never fading, always accessible.
Rose : Rumors about petty issues, misinterpretations,
slander...
Colonel : All this junk data preserved in an unfiltered state,
growing at an alarming rate.
Rose : It will only slow down social progress, reduce the
rate of evolution.
Colonel : Raiden, you seem to think that our plan is one of
censorship.
Raiden : Are you telling me it's not!?
Rose : You're being silly! What we propose to do is not to
control content, but to create context.
Raiden : Create context?
Colonel : The digital society furthers human flaws and
selectively rewards the development of convenient
half-truths. Just look at the strange juxtapositions
of morality around you.
Rose : Billions spent on new weapons in order to humanely
murder other humans.
Colonel : Rights of criminals are given more respect than the
privacy of their victims.
Rose : Although there are people suffering in poverty, huge
donations are made to protect endangered species.
Everyone grows up being told the same thing.
Colonel : "Be nice to other people."
Rose : "But beat out the competition!"
Colonel : "You're special." "Believe in yourself and you will
succeed."
Rose : But it's obvious from the start that only a few can
succeed...
Colonel : You exercise your right to "freedom" and this is the
result. All rhetoric to avoid conflict and protect
each other from hurt. The untested truths spun by
different interests continue to churn and accumulate
in the sandbox of political correctness and value
systems.
Rose : Everyone withdraws into their own small gated
community, afraid of a larger forum. They stay inside
their little ponds, leaking whatever "truth" suits
them into the growing cesspool of society at large.
Colonel : The different cardinal truths neither clash nor mesh.
No one is invalidated, but nobody is right.
Rose : Not even natural selection can take place here. The
world is being engulfed in "truth."
Colonel : And this is the way the world ends. Not with a bang,
but a whimper.
Rose : We're trying to stop that from happening.
Colonel : It's our responsibility as rulers. Just as in
genetics, unnecessary information and memory must be
filtered out to stimulate the evolution of the
species.
Raiden : And you think you're qualified to decide what's
necessary and not?
Colonel : Absolutely. Who else could wade through the sea of
garbage you people produce, retrieve valuable truths
and even interpret their meaning for later
generations?
Rose : That's what it means to create context.
Raiden : I'll decide for myself what to believe and what to
pass on!
Colonel : But is that even your own idea?
Rose : Or something Snake told you?
Colonel : That's the proof of your incompetence, right there.
You lack the qualifications to exercise free will.
Raiden : That's not true! I have the right --
Rose : Does something like a "self" exist inside of you?
Colonel : That which you call "self" serves as nothing more than
a mask to cover your own being.
Rose : In this era of ready-made 'truths', "self" is just
something used to preserve those positive emotions
that you occasionally feel...
Colonel : Another possibility is that "self" is a concept you
conveniently borrowed under the logic that it would
endow you with some sense of strength...
Raiden : That's crap!
Colonel : Is it? Would you prefer that someone else tell you?
Alright then. Explain it to him.
Rose : Jack, you're simply the best! And you got there all by
yourself!
Raiden : Grrr...
Colonel : Oh, what happened? Do you feel lost? Why not try a bit
of soul-searching?
Rose : Don't think you'll find anything, though...
Colonel : Ironic that although "self" is something that you
yourself fashioned, every time something goes wrong,
you turn around and place the blame on something else.
Rose : "It's not my fault. It's not your fault."
Colonel : In denial, you simply resort to looking for another,
more convenient "truth" in order to make yourself feel
better.
Rose : Leaving behind in an instant the so-called "truth" you
once embraced.
Colonel : Should someone like that be able to decide what is
"truth"?
Rose : Should someone like you even have the right to decide?
Colonel : You've done nothing but abuse your freedom.
Rose : You don't deserve to be free!
Colonel : We're not the ones smothering the world. You are.
Rose : The individual is supposed to be weak. But far from
powerless -- a single person has the potential to
ruin the world.
Colonel : And the age of digitized communication has given
even more power to the individual. Too much power
for an immature species.
Rose : Building a legacy involves figuring out what is
wanted, and what needs to be done for that goal. All
this, you used to struggle with. Now, we think for
you.
Colonel : We are your guardians after all.
Raiden : You want to control human thought? Human behavior?
Colonel : Of course. Anything can be quantified nowadays.
That's what this exercise was designed to prove.
consciousness formed layer by layer in the crucible of
the White House. It's not unlike the way life started
in the oceans four billion years ago. The White House
was our primordial soup, a base of evolution --
We are formless. We are the very discipline and
morality that Americans invoke so often. How can
anyone hope to eliminate us? As long as this nation
exists, so will we.
Raiden : Cut the crap! If you're immortal, why would you take
away individual freedoms and censor the Net?
Rose : Jack, don't be silly.
Colonel : Don't you know that our plans have your interests --
not ours -- in mind?
Raiden : What?
Rose : Jack, listen carefully like a good boy!
Colonel : The mapping of the human genome was completed early
this century. As a result, the evolutionary log of the
human race lay open to us.
Rose : We started with genetic engineering, and in the end,
we succeeded in digitizing life itself.
Colonel : But there are things not covered by genetic information.
Raiden : What do you mean?
Colonel : Human memories, ideas. Culture. History.
Rose : Genes don't contain any record of human history.
Colonel : Is it something that should not be passed on? Should
that information be left at the mercy of nature?
Rose : We've always kept records of our lives. Through words,
pictures, symbols... from tablets to books...
Colonel : But not all the information was inherited by later
generations. A small percentage of the whole was
selected and processed, then passed on. Not unlike
genes, really.
Rose : That's what history is, Jack.
Colonel : But in the current, digitized world, trivial
information is accumulating every second, preserved in
all its triteness. Never fading, always accessible.
Rose : Rumors about petty issues, misinterpretations,
slander...
Colonel : All this junk data preserved in an unfiltered state,
growing at an alarming rate.
Rose : It will only slow down social progress, reduce the
rate of evolution.
Colonel : Raiden, you seem to think that our plan is one of
censorship.
Raiden : Are you telling me it's not!?
Rose : You're being silly! What we propose to do is not to
control content, but to create context.
Raiden : Create context?
Colonel : The digital society furthers human flaws and
selectively rewards the development of convenient
half-truths. Just look at the strange juxtapositions
of morality around you.
Rose : Billions spent on new weapons in order to humanely
murder other humans.
Colonel : Rights of criminals are given more respect than the
privacy of their victims.
Rose : Although there are people suffering in poverty, huge
donations are made to protect endangered species.
Everyone grows up being told the same thing.
Colonel : "Be nice to other people."
Rose : "But beat out the competition!"
Colonel : "You're special." "Believe in yourself and you will
succeed."
Rose : But it's obvious from the start that only a few can
succeed...
Colonel : You exercise your right to "freedom" and this is the
result. All rhetoric to avoid conflict and protect
each other from hurt. The untested truths spun by
different interests continue to churn and accumulate
in the sandbox of political correctness and value
systems.
Rose : Everyone withdraws into their own small gated
community, afraid of a larger forum. They stay inside
their little ponds, leaking whatever "truth" suits
them into the growing cesspool of society at large.
Colonel : The different cardinal truths neither clash nor mesh.
No one is invalidated, but nobody is right.
Rose : Not even natural selection can take place here. The
world is being engulfed in "truth."
Colonel : And this is the way the world ends. Not with a bang,
but a whimper.
Rose : We're trying to stop that from happening.
Colonel : It's our responsibility as rulers. Just as in
genetics, unnecessary information and memory must be
filtered out to stimulate the evolution of the
species.
Raiden : And you think you're qualified to decide what's
necessary and not?
Colonel : Absolutely. Who else could wade through the sea of
garbage you people produce, retrieve valuable truths
and even interpret their meaning for later
generations?
Rose : That's what it means to create context.
Raiden : I'll decide for myself what to believe and what to
pass on!
Colonel : But is that even your own idea?
Rose : Or something Snake told you?
Colonel : That's the proof of your incompetence, right there.
You lack the qualifications to exercise free will.
Raiden : That's not true! I have the right --
Rose : Does something like a "self" exist inside of you?
Colonel : That which you call "self" serves as nothing more than
a mask to cover your own being.
Rose : In this era of ready-made 'truths', "self" is just
something used to preserve those positive emotions
that you occasionally feel...
Colonel : Another possibility is that "self" is a concept you
conveniently borrowed under the logic that it would
endow you with some sense of strength...
Raiden : That's crap!
Colonel : Is it? Would you prefer that someone else tell you?
Alright then. Explain it to him.
Rose : Jack, you're simply the best! And you got there all by
yourself!
Raiden : Grrr...
Colonel : Oh, what happened? Do you feel lost? Why not try a bit
of soul-searching?
Rose : Don't think you'll find anything, though...
Colonel : Ironic that although "self" is something that you
yourself fashioned, every time something goes wrong,
you turn around and place the blame on something else.
Rose : "It's not my fault. It's not your fault."
Colonel : In denial, you simply resort to looking for another,
more convenient "truth" in order to make yourself feel
better.
Rose : Leaving behind in an instant the so-called "truth" you
once embraced.
Colonel : Should someone like that be able to decide what is
"truth"?
Rose : Should someone like you even have the right to decide?
Colonel : You've done nothing but abuse your freedom.
Rose : You don't deserve to be free!
Colonel : We're not the ones smothering the world. You are.
Rose : The individual is supposed to be weak. But far from
powerless -- a single person has the potential to
ruin the world.
Colonel : And the age of digitized communication has given
even more power to the individual. Too much power
for an immature species.
Rose : Building a legacy involves figuring out what is
wanted, and what needs to be done for that goal. All
this, you used to struggle with. Now, we think for
you.
Raiden : You want to control human thought? Human behavior?
Colonel : Of course. Anything can be quantified nowadays.
That's what this exercise was designed to prove.
Rose : You fell in love with me just as you were meant to,
after all. Isn't that right, Jack?
Colonel : Ocelot was not told the whole truth, to say the
least.
Rose : We rule an entire nation -- of what interest would a
single soldier, no matter how able, be to us?