Why is MACHINE capitalized?
Ask the creators of FF VII.
Why are MARROW and BARROW's names capitalized?
Because their names are also acronyms, standing for Basic (or Modified) Application Retreival/Rehearsal Operation Worker.
What are ARROWs?
MACHINE operators or workers are sometimes called ARROWs. It stands for the same thing it does in Barrow's name and simply refers to the task of running MACHINE.
What does MACHINE do that's so important?
That's part of the mystery. Lawrence and Gabriel and trying to find out, so you can learn right along with them. Marrow and Barrow don't even know for sure.
How is it that there are always fourty ARROWs?
Whenever a pair dies (or one partner dies and the other returns to the outside world), another pair of twins meets for the first time. They are located and brought to MACHINE.
Why did so many ARROWs meet in their early twenties?
MACHINE selects the pair that is to meet when the pair preceeding them dies. One of its first criteria is to avoid detection, so it selects people who can dissappear most easily. Twentysomethings are less missed than six-year-olds with pining parents or thirty-year-olds with worried spouses. There are about 400 pairs in various places in the world right now, none of which have met.
C'mon now, why does everyone speak English? Shouldn't MACHINE have chosen some international ARROWs by now?
Several of the ARROWs are from non-USA countries, but MACHINE places a high priority on minimizing the disruption it causes in people's lives. Therefore, it generally chooses people in industrialzed nations (Think how freaky it would be to live on a rice padi all your life, and then go operate MACHINE...) who speak English as a first or second language. The few that don't know English on arriving learn it quickly through immersion; MACHINE also seems to help the learning process along.
What's up with the outlets in everyone's necks?
In order to fully access and operate MACHINE, workers need a consistant and controllable input/output device. Given the speed and quantity of information, only a neural plug would suffice. ARROWs undergo surgery to install the socket a few days after arriving. Marrow and Barrow can be programmed through their plugs. Whether or not the others can is unknown; no one has ever tried.
Where did Marrow and Barrow get there abnormalities from?
They were genetically engineered by an imperfect design process. The researchers who made them didn't quite know what they were doing. For the record, all of the stated problems are very possible neurologically, though I haven't done enough research to determine if they can occur in a difference of only 14 base pairs. For example, the slightly rounded facial features are a symtom of Kleinfelter's Syndrome, Long QT Syndrome, and Down's Syndrome (all genetic abnormalities).
What's up with this whole 'pack' thing? Why does Lawrence call Gabriel 'beta'?
I'm not really sure about the pack. Members of the pack seem to be able to sense each other's distress and they all look vaguely alike. The pack has a code, based on obedience and responsibility which Gabriel in particular clings to. Beta is second teir in a wolf pack. A beta wolf must obey orders given by an alpha wolf. Lawrence is not alpha wolf of the entire pack, but the designations are arranged based on who is present. Lawrence is simply above Gabriel in the pack and can give him orders.