Claire Ortiz is a character in Tom Clancy's The Division 2. She and her husband, Alexander, founded Ortiz Robotics, where they worked with DARPA in developing cutting-edge military hardware and AI for the U.S Government and their corporate interests. She's also the brainchild behind ANNA and the Descent Combat Simulation Program.
Her time working in Ortiz Robotics and her partnership with Calvin McManus and Natalya Sokolova forms the basis of Descent comms throughout Year 5.
Biography[]
Not much is known about Claire's upbringing or studies. But what from can be inferred from comms recovered from the NSA servers in the Descent simulation, Claire and Alex met, got married, and later established their own company, Ortiz Robotics, with a focus on engineering and robotics design.
Contracts[]
During the early days of the company, Claire designed ANNA as an in-house assistant AI for the company. While Alexander liked it, he was apprehensive about the human-like behavior that ANNA displayed. Over time, the company has been contracted by the U.S government to help develop cutting-edge military hardware with the help of DARPA. At some point, Claire and Alex pitched ANNA to two interested parties: Calvin McManus and Natalya Sokolova. However, both preferred to have something different. So, Claire and her husband worked on two off-shoots: ISAC for Cal to be used for field tests in the NSA (National Security Agency) and his newly-minted Strategic Homeland Division. DIAMOND as a critical backbone system for Natalya's Black Tusk.
Backdoor Protocol and Conley[]
At one point, Claire and Alex was requested by Calvin McManus to create a unique Smart Watch that allows Cal access to all three AI systems - ANNA, ISAC, and DIAMOND. While they designed the backdoor protocol necessary to make it happen, Claire was concerned about the security risks. (Descent, Comm#3, Updates)
Claire was involved with Vivian Conley, who worked in Ortiz Robotics briefly as a contractor, presented several design proposals based on incendiary munitions incuding the Firebrand. Those proposals were refused due to impracticality and ethical concerns, in addition to Claire calling her revised Firebrand designs flawed due to the same reasons, which eventually led to Vivian being dismissed when her contract ended. But because Ortiz Robotics had intellectual rights to Conley's work, her design ideas were used without credit like the Dragonbreath/Incendiary Turret and the Ortiz: Exuro Gear Set. (Descent, Comms 40/35 = Firebrand Prototype, Version 2)
Warhound Experiments[]
Claire designed to have ANNA as the handler for the Warhounds, however, that was shut down when Nat demanded no talking AI. Claire was also involved in the mobility experiments for the Warhounds, giving those quadruped machines the ability to. However, the experiments were a total failure, forcing Natalya to add additional funding to redesign her Warhounds. During the redesign, Claire added SHD Tech integration to allow Warhounds be smarter, though she kept it secret from Nat by telling her of its pulse mapping. When Cal shut down Alex's proposal to have warhounds inserted with embedded Division agents, Claire asked him if he needed his agents to take control of Natalya's Warhounds if necessary, Cal answered by only allowing his agents that have classified clearance.
Descent Simulation Program/Mobile SHD Servers[]
Given the fact that many of the projects Ortiz Robotics have developed were to be used for SHD agents from different walks of life, Claire worked on an AR combat simulation program to test an operator's effectiveness in combat. She also developed suits that can assess an operator's mental and physical effectiveness as well as allowing them to feel pain while participating in the program. In Claire's perspective, she sees operators in a combat situation can react in different ways while sustaining injuries. The program was almost entirely funded from Nat, under the pretense of building an environment to test her Warhounds in combat against real-life "volunteers". The program was developed in an underground NSA Bunker in Washington, D.C. which was used previously to field test many projects that Ortiz Robotics developed like the Turret and Chem Launcher. (Descent Comms: 15/17/16 = Hostile Elements/Pitch/Prototype)
The program worked initially, but there were power stability problems with the holograms, so ODEA Tech was contracted to procure a stable power solution. Claire was apprehensive about this as she didn't want to work with Vikram Malik, but was grateful when Cal reassured her that she'd work with Vik's sister: Birdie. (Descent, Comm#27, Field Test)
Birdie's assistance proved to be very helpful, and Claire thanked McManus for lending her to Ortiz Robotics. She then disclosed to Cal about her plans for a program that will fully automate the simulation and training for Cal's operatives, and allow Birdie to continue her work independently. Cal approved, as he was more than happy to have Claire's sim run more smoothly and take any of Sokolova's old or surplus "toys" once Claire is finished with those upgrades the Russian oligarch had paid for. (Descent, Comm#28, Automation)
During one of the field tests from the simulation, Claire observed Brian Johnson and his effectiveness in passing through the simulation. However, Cal needed more feedback, so Claire sent a simulated .50 cal round to Johnson, making him feel immense pain. This pleased Claire as it gave her much needed feedback. (Descent, Comm#52, Field Test: .50 Cal)
Claire was also involved in designing Mobile SHD Servers, which play a critical part for the SHD Network and were field-tested in the simulation. She had them designed as an insurance policy against potential coup as she did not trust Natalya. Cal was impressed, seeing her as a true patriot. (Descent, Comm#5, Ordered)
ANNA Overruled[]
Eventually, ISAC was chosen to be the AI handler for the Division due to multiple negative feedbacks from field agents against ANNA during the tests. Orders came up to have ANNA shut down. Vivian was enraged and begged Claire to not let them kill ANNA. Claire reassured her that ANNA is kept safe beneath ISAC's code in the Mobile SHD Server. (Descent, Comm#37, Backup)
Outbreak[]
When the Green Poison broke out, Claire and Alex got to a bunker to stay safe from the effects of the virus and weather out from the chaos of the outbreak. A bit after the activation of First Wave agents in New York, Claire was called up by Cal as he was enraged that a Division agent was accidentally marked rogue, lost access to SHD Tech, and got killed. Therefore, she made a workaround by allowing rogue agents keeping access to SHD Tech. To compensate, Claire allowed first deployment of the Hunters as a failsafe against future rogues. (Descent, Comm#26, Release)
An infamous legacy[]
Months after the outbrreak, Claire would be mentioned a couple of times from various people. She was first mentioned by Birdie when she was asked by Manny Ortega if Mobile SHD Servers could be modified during a debrief with him after she was sent to the Castle. (Manhunt: Puppeteers, Comm#25, Birdie)
During the conversations between Theo Parnell and Mathias "Trig" Schneider that happened before the events in Lower Manhattan, Claire was mentioned again during their conversation about the security issues with the Network, namely the backdoors and side-doors that could be exploited. When Parnell wondered if that was intentional, "Trig" hoped that'd be the case with Claire as he believed those security issues were on purpose, and mentioned that she always had her reasons, even if they don't make sense to anyone else. (Manhunt: Shades of Red, Comm#10, Network)
Indeed, Claire's involvement in having SHD/DIAMOND/ANNA all built on the same network became a rather infamous error, after the events with the Recruiter in Camp White Oak, when Natalya Sokolova put a mandate to her subordinates to not use radios for communication, The Manager realized the rumors about the so-called backdoor that Claire turned out to be true, though Sokolova corrected him by making a metaphor of the three networks being the same studio apartment. (Manhunt: The Pact, Comm#5, Networks)
Given all of that in mind, it can be inferred that Claire did not trust Natalya Sokolova nor Calvin McManus given their agendas, and she had built those backdoors into the Network, probably in hopes that someone smart enough to disrupt the network systems that Sokolova and McManus use from within, considering that direct engagement against these two is highly dangerous.
The Key to The Network[]
As the Division uncovered the truth about Faye Lau while following Agent Kelso's trail, they'd learn from a comm they recovered that Claire Ortiz plays an important role in the war against Black Tusk, as Bridgette Douglas emphasized to Bardon Schaeffer that in order to take down Black Tusk, they need Claire. (Manhunt: Burden of Truth, Comm#8, Glasses)
Schaeffer corroborated this during his debriefings with Manny Ortega, telling him in order to take down The Diamond Network that powers Black Tusk's tech, they need Claire Ortiz as she's the one who built Ortiz Robotics Network, in which the SHD, Black Tusk, and Rogue networks really on. (Manhunt: Crossroads, Comm#5, The Plan)
However, Claire's status is still unknown, with no concrete evidence if she survived the months after the outbreak. And if she is alive, there's a likely possibility that Sokolova has her under Black Tusk's custody.
Personality[]
From what can be inferred across the comms from Descent, Claire Ortiz could be best described as a breadwinner as her genius and expertise were instrumental in having Ortiz Robotics contracted to design cutting-edge hardware and Artificial Intelligence for secretive organizations like Strategic Homeland Division and Black Tusk.
As the brainchild behind ANNA, she has special fondness for the AI given her advanced code and human-like mannerisms. She hoped by pitching ANNA, there'd be interested parties who'd take the AI. But circumstances were not kind to her nor with ANNA. And despite criticisms against ANNA, Claire was very protective of the AI, even going as far as keeping her safe beneath ISAC's code in the Mobile SHD Server.
Because her work in Ortiz Robotics involved cutting-edge military hardware and AI, Claire may not have the ethical restraint to consider the implications of her work. As an example, one programmer named Kevin Park became aware of Claire's work for ISAC and attempted to warn people about the security risks and privacy violations the AI represents, only to get intimidated to silence.
While Claire doesn't call herself as a patriot, she does care for her country as her work in designing the Mobile SHD Servers is instrumental in keeping the Division's SHD Network safe against their nemesis, Black Tusk. She maintained a belief that some of the projects that Ortiz Robotics developed should belong to the people.
Trivia[]
- Claire was first mentioned in the quote (which appears to the player after dying from the boss fight) from Sparkle Warhound in Coney Island Ballpark. In that quote, she talks about how the Flamethrower Warhound could revolutionize forest maintenance. Ironically, Sparkle was used for combat than for forest maintenance.
- As revealed in the official website's article about Neurodivergence in the game, Claire Ortiz is voiced by actress Madison Walsh (who coincidentally voices Birdie Malik)