Tamiko's Purpose?

[Pandesmos]

I'm just a little confused on Tamiko's purpose in the game. I know she carried the cure to the plague but why was the Bloodweaver experimenting on her? BW created the plague so I would think he'd want her destroyed and not keep her around with a chance of the cure getting out. Sorry, might be a stupid question but maybe I'm missing something.

[Erinys]

Tamiko was kidnapped by the Retrievers (the medical bots) because she was a human subject, and living in the Feldspar Mountains. There was no other reason; she was not specially selected. She was human, she was female (and thus the default template for any animal species, and likely to be robust), and she was available. So they took her.

As to her purpose? Well, there are three possible answers to that question, so I will answer all three.

Her purpose in life: in her normal life, Tamiko she was a biologist and zoologist. She was studying the animals, microbiology and ecosystems of Arbuda IV, collecting samples and studying them. She and Travis lived together in a small cabin in the Feldspar Mountains, which he had built on the patch he chose as a homestead with his retirement land grant from Sol Force. So essentially, her purpose was to live, love and be happy, and to satisfy her endless curiosity about xenobiology,

Her purpose in the Pit: once she was captured by Retrievers, her agenda was to escape. And failing escape, to get someone to rescue her. And failing that...to help any human being who was also stuck in the Pit to get out or survive, even if she did not. That is the reason she entered all of her notes and thoughts into the messaging terminals of the facility. She had briefly escaped her captors and was trying to find a way out. But unlike the player, she wasn't carrying a backpack and some gear and getting a chance to level up on her way down--she started at the bottom stripped naked on a slab and was stuck trying to claw her way UP. Pretty difficult!

Her purpose in the game: the Damsel in Distress is a classic trope in computer gaming, which goes back to the origins of the hobby and far beyond. And I thought it would be more interesting to play with that trope and have a few laughs with it, rather than make the Cure be nothing but a beaker or a vial at the end of the game.

At minimum, Tamiko has more lines than a beaker.

--Arinn