The third AI-Ball, named Marco (JP: マルコ, Maruko), is a minor character featured in AI: THE SOMNIUM FILES - nirvanA Initiative. They are Mizuki "Bibi" Kuranushi's partner during her investigations into the HB Case in the present.
Like Aiba and Tama, they are an AI-Ball equipped with advanced artificial intelligence. They are usually found in Bibi's left eye socket and supports her in her work. They have an introverted personality and speaks only to Bibi.
Design
Marco only appears in Bibi's left eye socket in-game, their iris are cyan.
Judging from the shape of the concept art, When they are detached from their partner and using their motor functions, they adopted the appearance of a spherical shape on the upper side and a slime-like appearance on the lower side. Their projected skin is transparent and grey, and their skin are more like a gelatinous substance, where on the inside their optic nerve is visible as a sort of light green spine.
Personality
Little is known of Marco's personality. However Bibi describes them as being shy, introverted, and generally not very talkative. They only seem to talk to Bibi. Mizuki Date and Kuruto Ryuki have no chance to be chatted up by Marco, at least that's how it appears in the game; Aiba and Tama can receive information from Marco though.
Story
Marco was originally assigned to Bibi when she was admitted into ABIS, but was incomplete at the time. After Bibi was rendered unable to investigate the HB Case and Aiba was destroyed in the explosion at the Cathedral, Marco was completed and placed inside Bibi's left eye socket.
M3: Kizuna and Lien Route
When Mizuki Date was interrogating Lien Twining after finished the Psync into him, Bibi sent her a Wink Psync video of Kizuna Chieda talking to her father Riichi Chieda. This was most likely made by Marco's function.
The next day, after Mizuki Date went to Aioen Orphanage, Bibi arrived here with the same Scooter as her, and when the group was surrounded by Mercenaries who used optical camouflage to hide, she told Mizuki Date to "use Thermo Mode." Judging from Bibi's subsequent combat performance, this should also show that Marco also has this function.
M1: Resolution Route
Mizuki Date didn't know Marco's existence until she went to the Cathedral in the early morning of February 15th, the day of Nirvana Initiative's launching. to learn the truth behind Tokiko Shigure. Bibi told to her that she used Marco's X-ray function to detect Tokiko's secret file.
Appearances
| AI: THE SOMNIUM FILES - nirvanA Initiative | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 Years Ago | Present | ||||
| Converge Ch 0: A Strange Tale (Past) Absent |
Converge Ch 0: A Strange Tale (Present) Appears |
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| Mizuki Ch 0: New Investigation Absent |
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| Ryuki Ch 0: Dispossessed Absent |
Mizuki Ch 0: Alone Absent |
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| Ryuki Ch 1: Anyone Imagines Absent |
Mizuki Ch 1: Pass Mildly Away Appears |
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| Ryuki Ch 1: Nefarious Institute Absent |
Mizuki Ch 1: Nostalgic Idol Absent |
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| Ryuki Diverge: 遐ｴ邯ｻ逋ｾ蜃ｺ Absent |
Ryuki Ch 1: Ought to Know Absent |
Mizuki Ch 1: End Where I Begun Absent |
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| Mizuki Ch 2: Traveler Absent |
Ryuki Ch 2: Nothing to Be Done Absent |
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| Mizuki Ch 2: Necessary Intervention Absent |
Ryuki Ch 2: Naixatloz's Intentions Absent |
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| Mizuki Ch 2: Left Behind Absent |
Ryuki Ch 2: Go Appears |
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| Ryuki Ch 3: Farewell Absent |
Mizuki Ch 3: The Expense of Spirit Appears |
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| Ryuki Ch 3: Need Info Absent |
Mizuki Ch 3: Neurotic Inception Absent |
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| Ryuki Ch 3 R2: Joy for Anguish Absent |
Ryuki Ch 3 R1: Smiles for Tears Absent |
Mizuki Ch 3 M1: Hell Appears |
Mizuki Ch 3 M2: All Living Things Appears |
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| Ryuki Ch 4 R2: I Found Me Absent |
Mizuki Ch 4 M1: Visions Absent |
Ryuki Ch 4 R1: Well-Known Absent |
Mizuki Ch 4 M2: Of Arms and Of Man Absent |
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| Ryuki Ch 4 R2: Nested Insecurities Absent |
Mizuki Ch 4 M1: Nonentity Incognito Absent |
Ryuki Ch 4 R1: Nearly Interesting Absent |
Mizuki Ch 4 M2: Novel Ingress Absent |
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| Ryuki Ch 4 R2: Past Its Ken Absent |
Mizuki Ch 4 M1: In Truth Absent |
Ryuki Ch 4 R1: The Mind of God Absent |
Mizuki Ch 4 M2: Who's There Absent |
Mizuki Ch 4 M3: Bid the Soldiers Shoot Appears | |
| Komeji and Shoma: END | Ryuki Ch 5 R1: Not All A Dream Absent |
Mizuki Ch 5 M1: Births Appears |
Mizuki Ch 5 M2: All That We Are Absent |
Mizuki Ch 5 M3: Sweet Silent Thought Appears | |
| Ryuki Ch 5 R1: Nemesis Identified Absent |
Mizuki Ch 5 M1: Nightmare Irreconcilable Absent |
Gen and Amame: END | Kizuna and Lien: END | ||
| Ryuki Ch 5 R1: She Was the Universe Absent |
Mizuki Ch 5 M1: The End of Craving Appears |
Ryuki Diverge: All This Happened, More or Less Absent | |||
| Explosion: END | Mizuki Epilogue: Braver Than All Flowers Appears |
閭｡陜ｶ荵句､｢邱ｨEND | |||
| Resolution: END | |||||
Gallery
Trivia
Etymology
- "Maruko" (マルコ) means "round child", making their name a pun on their round-shaped body, similar to Tama's name.
General
- The character's name is mentioned as "Marco" in voiced dialogue, but was mistranslated as "Maruko" several times in game files and dialogue prompts, creating confusion regarding their true localized name. This also led to confusion regarding their gender, as "Marco" in English is a male name, while "Maruko" in Japanese is most commonly (but not exclusively) a female name, before Uchikoshi confirmed them as non-binary.[1]
- The English localization considered using other pronouns such as "they" or "ze" pronouns for him before settling on using he/him pronouns; In Japanese subtitles and audio, as well as in Chinese subtitles, Marco uses "彼女" or "她" (she/her) as personal pronouns.
- Despite never appearing independently from Bibi, the game files contain model data for Marco's mascot form.
- Marco is the youngest of all the characters so far in the entire series.