Mynah: the Armoured Mining Replikas and the First Boss of Signalis

Mynah is the nickname of the MNHR model, the heavy industrial Replika that works the mines and dangerous sites of the Eusan Nation. They stand 260 cm tall in armoured servo-shells that look like old diving suits. At S-23 Sierpinski a corrupted Mynah is the first boss Elster faces, and an uncorrupted one called Beo is among the last friendly faces she meets in the mines. (Signalis)

What are Mynah units?#

The MNHR overview says no other model rivals them for dangerous cargo, heavy machinery and hazardous environments. "Even in lethal radiation, under crushing pressure and in zero G, they keep their calm demeanor and show exemplary teamwork." Under the face shield is a standard Generation 3 head, so maintenance is as easy as on any other model. The overview adds that the MNHR personality is not suited to combat, and points to a combat variant, the SAPR "Schnäpper", which uses the same frame. (Signalis, "Replika Overview: MNHR")

The Known Issues file calls the Mynah pattern "extremely stable". Mynahs get along with most models thanks to "their sometimes submissive, sometimes motherly personality", don't need to keep diaries like other units, and can be given small stuffed animals as fetish objects, though not cats, which "might cause resurfacing Gestalt memories". (Signalis, "Replika Known Issues, Part 3")

The Mynah boss fight#

After Elster gathers the keys to the hospital wing and opens the surgery, she drops down to the old medical ward and meets MNHR-S2305. In the opening cutscene the Mynah's visor opens and a flood of oxidant, the fluid Replikas have in place of blood, pours out over her face. She fights with a mining laser that has to charge before it fires, and calls ARAR worker units out of the floor to help. (Signalis)

Every so often she clutches her head, falls to her knees and opens her visor, spilling more of the veined, dark oxidant. That open visor is where the damage counts. (Signalis)

Beo, the Mynah in the mines#

Deeper in, past a pile of abandoned mining lasers Elster says are too heavy for her to use, she finds a Mynah slumped in a tunnel. "I'm Beo," she says. One of her hydraulics has failed and she can't move. She tells Elster not to bother repairing her, "It'd be a waste of resources", points her to equipment in the mining office, and adds: "We're just Replikas after all, right? In the end, what's one drop to an ocean? When I die they'll just make another." She thanks Elster for talking to her and hopes she finds what she's looking for. (Signalis)

Beo's oxidant is clean and red rather than dark and veined, and she is one of the few units at S-23 who is still herself. (Signalis)

What Beo says about Replikas#

Beo's lines sum up how the Nation treats its Replikas: as replaceable equipment, a view she has absorbed completely. The game never comments on it directly, but it sits next to the Stolen Document's line that units showing "clear signs of individuality" should be swiftly replaced. (Signalis, "Stolen Document")