344 Murphy's Law and Stuff

[K2!]

[zirconmermaid]

Well, I certainly know who number 3 is! So, is Anna Marie number 1 or number 2? And he left Naru with an open internet connection! Oh my!

[ShortNCuddlyAm]

I initially read it that number 1 was rather slow up the stairs, and thought it was some kind of neko-dalek. Then I re-read it and spotted the the wasn't actually there and it all made much more sense!

[Swan]

OK, so we have the "specimens" in this order (probably)
1. Keiko. Lost during an automobile accident, possibly staged (black panel van?). Vanished out of the specimen carrier.
2. Habiki. Lost in the mail. Unconscious and 'chilled' into a dormant state. Never arrived.
3. Miyuki. Lost in mid-flight on the way to "The Clinic"

I say "probably" because Miyuki named them in that order "That's where Keiko and Habiki went..." HOwEVER a different, interesting theory comes to mind... In this theory the order is
1. Habiki, Lost during an automobile accident.
2. Keiko/Anna Marie! Chilled and in a dormant state, FOUND on Farnsworth's / Diamon'd dorrstep by Hyatt!
3. Miyuki. Lost in mid-flight.

There are two or three reasons for this theory...
1. The fact that we have seen her arrival, chilled and dormant, with instructions on the package to keep refrigerated.
"Mail Call" #191 "REFRIGERATE! DO NOT FREEZE!"
2. The cute pink outfit A.M. is wearing, asleep in that box. "For some reason Kobayakowa really bonded with Number 2. It was the first monkey he actually gave a name. He even bought little outfits for Number 2 to wear at the lab." -- Dr Stadler. This episode.
3. The NAME "Anna Marie". Notice that A.M. IS probably from Kyoto ""I just moved here 6 months ago from Tokyo...Sure, you sound like you're from Kansai Kyoto, if I had to guess." -- Miyuki to Anna Marie "Minor details" ep # 64 and yet she has an *American* name. My hunch is that Kobayakawa GAVE her the name Anna Marie. The other Nekomimi from Advanced Medica all have Japanese names. If all three were taken from the same source (Keiko, Habiki and Miyuki) then perhaps those are the names they had before they were taken from their parents in Japan.
4. Hyatt's reaction to Anna Marie. "interference... like a low level firewall..." -- cited before
5. Hazel's comment "When I last saw you, you were a little kitten"
6 "Pinky's" non-verbality. Could it be that she does not remember the place BECAUSE she was so young? Or her memories have been magically blocked by Hazel? When Hyatt teasingly asks her age, early in the series, Anna Marie does not remember! And she does not remember Tokyo, even though her accent is Japanese!
7. (although this is wild conjecture) Miyuki's seeing Habiki in her dream, but NOT Keiko. Why doesn't Miyuki recognize A.M. as Keiko? Perhaps because she was so young. Also, "Pinky" has black ears and red eyes. A.M. has pink ears and pink or blue eyes. She has physically changed.

REASONS AGAINST THIS:
1. Miyuki *would* most probably remember Anna Marie.
2. "I just moved here six months ago" Miyuki's astay in the US has been short... Anna Marie has been (we think) longer than that with Diamond. Long enough for her to have grown up.
3. the image of "Keiko" in the "Worlds of MADh" poster is NOT Anna Marie. Pink ears but blonde hair. The face, however, is in shadow.
still... It's certainly worth consideration.

Swan

[Trethowan]

Who had the picture of a nekomimi in the cat carrier lost at the airport? I seem to remember that but it was a while ago and I don't recall when it was.

[Greyhaunt]

Ok, so I have an alternate to the above theory because I think Keiko and Habiki are, not exactly red herrings, but being misinterpreted as to when they were involved in Miyuki's life.

First off, I think we can all agree that Miyuki was #3 - that's obvious.

Now, when Miyuki has her nightmare and is talking to Habiki, they reference "the Clinic". This is the place that the other two were sent to, and they obviously were with Miyuki prior to that transfer at some third location - but for Swan's theory to be correct that would make the Advanced Medica Lab the original location. This, however does not make sense when you realize that, from how Stadler is talking, they seem to have only one specimen at a time at this location.

Stadler talks about being moved from a temporary location to this lab - which is when they lost specimen number 1. Ok, this would imply that Advanced Medica has more than one local - in fact we know they have a home office of some sort in Japan since that is where the men were planning to take Miyuki AND where they were shipping #2. So who is to say that over in Japan they don't have holding areas where they raise their specimens until one is required for an experiment. This is the place where Miyuki knew Habiki and Keiko - over in Japan. Therefore there is no reason to assume she knew Anna Marie because Anna Marie may have come from a different branch or location of Advanced Medica - Kyoto rather than Tokyo.

I believe Swan is right with her theory that Anna Marie is #2. After all, #2 was lost in the mail - and Anna Marie arrived via mail at Farnsworth's home. The tracking chip for #2 was mysteriously found in the middle of nowhere and it seems the package disappeared from a plane in midair. If that doesn't sound like magic then I'm not sure what else it could be! For reasons we do not know Hazel rescused Anna Marie and sent her to Diamond.

As for number 1 - continuing with my theory that Habiki and Keiko are irrelevant, I propose that it was corporate espionage, and rather than #1 being frozen to death, she is now in the control of another organization. Personally, I vote for Izzy. I mean talk about not too bright upstairs! I'm surprised she can find her way home without a note pinned to her chest. And she is obviously well established at her current company since they use her in advertising. The only flaw I see with this theory is that you'd expect Advanced Medica to recognize her, but come on, she is with a cosmetic company - how hard for them to alter her appearance a bit?

Or, #1 got free, got lost and some unknown third party has a pet nekomimi that they are home schooling.

So, my guess?

#3 = Miyuki
#2 = Anna Marie
#1 = Izzy or ?

[Swan]

Wow! I hadn't thought of that, but YeS! The home office might be in Japan or elsewhere in the US. Advanced Medica might be PART of either or both Yutani Medical Group and Nippon Global, working with the Defense department and connected with Revline, GenTex and Synaptic.

If there is a central "breeding facility" that would explain why all the Nekimimi we have seen are parentless. They might be bred from adults and then immediately taken from their mothers to be raised in creches.

Unanswered questions:
Where are the adult/breeders and are they also captive/enslaved, or are they paid money to give up their offspring?
Who are the "other little monkeys" stadler says have been microchipped?
WHO runs the Neko Special Middle School? Why are the nekomimi, normally kept captive, permitted to come freely to school?
What are the OTHER companies doing?

I can hazard a guess at some.

GenTex - Diabetes control, genetic manipulation to create or destroy desease processes (Mittens)
Revline Inc. - Cosmetic testing (like labrats)
Advanced Medica - Experimenting to produce a cyborg or nekomimi interface between biological and electronic.
Yutani Medical Group - Mecical/military testing. Anger or emotional control and incitement (Cora and Penny)
Synaptic - By the name, I'd say neurological experimentation.

Nippon Global - don't actually know... maybe THEY are the head office!

Of course... if you read down that list of five companies, the initials spell GRAYS! It's ALIENS I tell ya!!

Swan

[Greyhaunt]

Unless you list them differently - then it spells Yargs.....just sayin

I presume the other chipped monkeys are Specimens 1-3 who, one presumes, all somehow discarded their chips in various ways. I'd guess Diamond took care of Miyuki's.

[ShortNCuddlyAm]

Veering wildly off-topic - there's a cheese called Cornish Yarg - which is called that because it's simply the name in reverse of the couple who came up with the recipe!

[zirconmermaid]

Who had the picture of a nekomimi in the cat carrier lost at the airport? I seem to remember that but it was a while ago and I don't recall when it was.

http://www.madhvinyl.com/adventures/089-099/095.html Miyuki in episode 95, International Incident. Hazel did it. See episode 94, just before it.