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My perception was sky high so I never had to find a fridge. Which is a little sad.
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Jan 12, 2020 01:00
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Whose gun?
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Jan 13, 2020 20:31
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The descriptions and interactions in this area are amazingly meta, I love them.
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Jan 14, 2020 09:48
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we havent even begun to scratch the surface of the full horror that is the Doomed Commercial District.
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Jan 15, 2020 07:36
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Read the thread, bought the game, yelled at a few people for not getting me on the hype train earlier. No idea how this wasn't on my radar. I'm playing a pretty nice guy, no drugs or booze, just trying to help people out without getting involved in political nonsense. People are reading way too much into my lack of commitment to a political cause and I wish they'd hakuna their tatas and let me do my job.
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Jan 15, 2020 07:40
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Guildenstern Mother posted:I'm playing a pretty nice guy, no drugs or booze, just trying to help people out without getting involved in political nonsense. People are reading way too much into my lack of commitment to a political cause and I wish they'd hakuna their tatas and let me do my job. they're right, coward
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Jan 15, 2020 10:59
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Guildenstern Mother posted:Read the thread, bought the game, yelled at a few people for not getting me on the hype train earlier. No idea how this wasn't on my radar. I'm playing a pretty nice guy, no drugs or booze, just trying to help people out without getting involved in political nonsense. People are reading way too much into my lack of commitment to a political cause and I wish they'd hakuna their tatas and let me do my job. Sounds like someone has more than 25 reál in their pocket. 
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Jan 15, 2020 12:01
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BisbyWorl posted:Sounds like someone has more than 25 reál in their pocket. I'm gonna pop some tags, only got 20 reál in my pocket...
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Jan 15, 2020 15:41
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Chapter 15: 14:14-15:31: Missing Persons Let’s not send Kim, our best friend and the sole pure ray of light in this hellblasted land of decay, away just yet. We need him! To investigate furnaces!   KIM KITSURAGI: “Looks like it. Looks like an old central furnace used to heat the building. It’s connected to the chimney…” He opens the door and gingerly peeks inside.  CENTRAL FURNACE: It’s dark and grimy here. In the darkness, you can hear *chatter*. It’s coming from above. A voice—or several voices—talking to each other, near the smoke chamber upstairs.  KIM KITSURAGI: “Wait, really?” The lieutenant sounds concerned. “Take your head out of the chimney, please. It’s not safe.” ESPRIT DE CORPS: [Medium: Success] It feels safe to know that the lieutenant’s got your back, now and always.  CENTRAL FURNACE: A lush layer of coal now covers your skin, sinking into the wrinkles. Your hands look ancient.  INLAND EMPIRE: Yes, how grown-up. The furnace agrees.  KIM KITSURAGI: “You’re right, the rooms do look like they’re connected. But *malignant Entities* don’t exist—at least not the *supra-natural* kind.”   If you’re wondering why we have 5 Physical Instrument here, it’s because I accidentally took our shirt off when I picked up the Insane Mesh Tank Top. I will rectify this shortly.  CENTRAL FURNACE: “Hello?” you hear a woman’s voice answer.  CENTRAL FURNACE: “Hello! Did you say anything?” There’s a pause. “I can’t hear you, please come upstairs! There’s a safety curtain on the second floor, I’ll open it!” PERCEPTION (HEARING): [Easy: Success] You hear a low rumble upstairs—the sound of a curtain being pulled aside.  Cool, just head back upstairs and—wait where are you going We’re actually not going to investigate The Entity at the moment, because we’re very, very busy right now.   INTERFACING: …do something important? Something murder-related? There’s always *something* important. Doesn’t mean you can’t take a moment to admire this piece of machinery. ENCYCLOPEDIA: [Medium: Success] This is a Coupris Kineema, the Coupris MotorCorps’ follow-up to their highly successful workhorse, Coupris 40 and their answer to the LUM’s racing-bred ‘Fevre’ series.     KIM KITSURAGI: “Hundred and thirty.”    KIM KITSURAGI: “Yes.” There’s gentleness in the lieutenant’s voice as his eyes run over the vehicle’s contours. “An extraordinary machine.” VISUAL CALCULUS: [Medium: Success] Helium headlights would improve the range and quality of the visual field a lot.   KIM KITSURAGI: “You want to help?” He glances at you and smiles. “Thank you for the offer. That might be fun. Let’s do the case first though, alright?”       SHIVERS: Sheets of rain over the water. A flight of stairs leading into the ocean. Wave after wave washing the coast of Martinaise, with its motorboats and gently swaying reeds.  SHIVERS: The skyscrapers of La Delta, the financial district. Faint golden light seeps from the office windows.          SHIVERS: A silvery curtain of rain over the houses. The class divide.  SHIVERS: Capeside apartments—tower blocks crowd one another, 4.46 mm bullets still lodged in their war-torn stone walls. Hallways collapse from the mortar hits of a war that was lost long ago. Clotheslines go to waste in the rain. Radios play.        SHIVERS: In the rain-swept distance above the rooftops of Jamrock, a re-purposed silk mill stands perched above the motorway exit. Precinct 41 hunches in the rain.      ALICE: “Yes. The armour was produced by…” She looks at her notes. “Fairweather in their facilities in Betancourt, Sur-la-Clef, in ‘42. It was part of a special order for Corps de Pharmacie, a security firm contracted to protect the interests of Oranjese pharmaceutical companies in the Seminine conflict.”  ALICE: “The most recently registered firm that the ICP has been able to connect to the CdP is a military contractor called *Krenel*. And the one before it was Downwell. I think they might be the same contractor.”   ALICE: “Yes, but the ICP tends to be reluctant to share private sector records. I could try to talk them into it, though.”    Let’s examine some of these new items we got.  SHIVERS: Your finger moves through the various streets, across Rue de Saint-Ghislaine and Rue de Saint-Cispare, over Saint-Brune and Martinaise North… finally coming to a halt on the spot where you are currently standing, although the map gives no such indication itself.    KIM KITSURAGI: “Does it say anything interesting?” The lieutenant leans closer to read the crumpled note over your shoulder.  A NOTE FROM THE FRIDGE: Someone has scribbled: “S, I can’t believe the off-site copy is still here! The illiterate ginger kid keeps stealing stuff from the studio, so I had to hide it somewhere safe.”  KIM KITSURAGI: “Someone who owns a radiocomputer? My guess is as good as yours, officer.”  KIM KITSURAGI: “It belongs inside a radiocomputer, storing its memory. It’s like a tape—You listen to disco tapes, right? It’s like one of your disco tapes, only for a computer.”    KIM KITSURAGI: “I don’t know… I assume it’s somewhere close to the ice bear fridge.”       KIM KITSURAGI: “If we find who owns it, we will have likely found who *used* it—possibly to kill our victim.”  FRACTURED BULLET: The squashed bullet has some sharp edges where the jacket has split open. It feels cold, even through the bag.    FRACTURED BULLET: It’s quite destroyed. Some of the fragments are still lodged in the wound.  KIM KITSURAGI: “A jacketed bullet. Okay… It would have been shot from a military-grade breech-loading rifle, not from a muzzleloader like those typically found on the streets of Martinaise.” ENCYCLOPEDIA: [Medium: Success] Highly unusual. The people of Revachol haven’t carried breech-loading weapons like this for nearly half a century. KIM KITSURAGI: “Even the RCM uses ordinary unjacketed conical bullets. This is… strange. Very strange. I like this, officer. Strange means unique. Unique means incriminating. We need to find the gun that shot it.”    HAND/EYE COORDINATION: The 4.46 calibre was widely used with the *Belle-Margrave* rifle, a Revacholian manufacturer. The B-M dominated the battlefields of the Insulindian theatre of the Antecentennial Revolution, 50 years ago.   HAND/EYE COORDINATION: Antiques enthusiasts, guerilla fighters in distant countries, a few lucky Jamrock bangers. You’re looking for the same thing you found in that hidden weapons cache—only in working order.    KIM KITSURAGI: He nods. “I have to hand it to the monarchs—it’s quite admirable that they took the advice of criminologists last century and banned the use of breechloaders in peacetime. Some new RCM recruits get impatient with their muzzleloaders once they’ve trained with military-grade weapons, but they realize it’s worth it, in the end.”  KIM KITSURAGI: “Imagine if everyone—cops, citizens—had access to firearms that could shoot multiple rounds without pausing to reload. After the first shot, the second, third, and so on—come much easier.” DUNNO MAN, SEEMS PRETTY FAR-FETCHED        AUTHORITY: Yes. And you found him. Now go and tell the working class woman. Protect and serve, recruit! LOGIC: [Medium: Success] Didn’t she repeatedly tell you her husband isn’t missing though?    Well, let’s further embarrass ourselves with this husband poo poo, I guess.    WORKING CLASS WOMAN: “Excuse me?!” She blinks. “I don’t follow.”  WORKING CLASS WOMAN: “Right, ‘cause working class women come with alcoholic husbands.” She glances over your shoulder towards the drunk. “You know what?”  WORKING CLASS WOMAN: “You were right. I do have an alcoholic husband. Although not that one.”   WORKING CLASS WOMAN: “No, he’s not. Or maybe he is, I don’t know. He’s probably in the park, or in Jamrock or somewhere. Drinking with his *friends*.” She looks away. “I haven’t seen him for… Well, to hell with him!” She has completely forgotten about her books, staring blank into the distance instead.  KIM KITSURAGI: “I wouldn’t be so sure,” he replies, before turning to face the working class woman. “Ma’am, just to be absolutely clear—do you want to report it to the police?”    KIM KITSURAGI: “I’d say there’s nothing mysterious about incompleteness. It’s in fact rather unpleasant.”  KIM KITSURAGI: “All right then…” He sighs. “He has *questions* now.”    WORKING CLASS WOMAN: “What else… He was wearing a dark brown leather jacket witrh a bright blue inner lining. The lining is hand-sewn, I made it myself.” She sighs, her voice slightly quivering when she adds: “It’s his *cool jacket*. God knows it’s too cold to run around in this, but he refuses to change.” COMPOSURE: [Medium: Success] Who cares about the cold when you have your *cool jacket* to wear? You can completely sympathize.  WORKING CLASS WOMAN: “Well, what can you do… I hope at least that extra lining helps him keep warm at night. I wouldn’t like him to catch cold.”  WORKING CLASS WOMAN: “Yesterday morning. He went to the library.” Her eyes become cold with recollection. “He went to retrieve my book and he promised, he *promised* he’d walk straight back home. Because we talked about this. We talked about not wandering off again!” She scoffs. “I don’t know what to do! I honestly don’t know what to do with his addiction… It just makes me feel weak.” LOGIC: [Easy: Success] Gone for around 36 hours then? drat, this *is* a missing persons case.   WORKING CLASS WOMAN: “Thank you!” You sense gratitude in her voice. “Please, do… Even though I’m sure he will return home by himself. I’m still sure of that.” VOLITION: [Medium: Success] She tries to maintain a brave front, even though her eyes reveal the opposite. KIM KITSURAGI: “I’m sure he will too. When he does, would you let Precinct 57—Kim Kitsuragi—know.” He gives her a slip of paper.  Are you done bothering Working Class Woman yet? Good.  Let’s make our way north for the first time.       KIM KITSURAGI: “The streets will not flow red with anything. Who are you?”    COMPOSURE: [Easy: Success] Hatred? Disgust? It’s difficult to tell which of the two is more present in her girlish features.    KIM KITSURAGI: “Probably the Wild Pines rep. We should talk to her.” He nods in her direction. “She’s a professional negotiator, though. I have the feeling she will be very cooperative—while telling us nothing. You should take the lead, ask her unexpected questions—you know, do your thing. Don’t be afraid to get a bit *wacky*. Throwing her off is our best bet.”  CINDY THE SKULL: “Can’t you tell? I’m painting a beautiful mural. An aero-graffito visible from low orbit…”  CINDY THE SKULL: “This place is severely lacking in havoc. Not even the occasional trash can fire to break up the tedium.”   CINDY THE SKULL: “Thanks. I’m sure the inspiration will come to me now that I have an official RCM stamp of approval.” RHETORIC: [Medium: Success] She means the opposite.  CINDY THE SKULL: “She wrinkles her nose. “I ain’t no snitch, pigstein. Go forth and forage in someone else’s poo poo. No shortage of squealers in these parts.” KIM KITSURAGI: “Actually, there is a shortage of people who talk to us in a normal, calm, informative manner.”   CINDY THE SKULL: “Ugh, alright, sad piggy. I’ll give you this one—I saw a little girl in the fishing village running around with military-grade hand-wear. Looked cute as hell.”  CINDY THE SKULL: “No-no. That’s all the snitching Cindy the Skull does for today. Actually, I don’t even know why I told you what I just told you…” She looks at you, a little sad suddenly. “I have a weakness for animals. It’s the animal-thing again. drat it.”   Charming. Well, looks like the next order of business is talking to the Wild Pines rep.
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Jan 15, 2020 20:17
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Night10194 posted:Kim's genuine desire to be cool, and the fact that he succeeds at it completely, is one of the many reasons Kim is good.
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Jan 16, 2020 01:49
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So, looking at the time, we're standing in the rain for 12 minutes while the city talks to us.
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Jan 16, 2020 06:28
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Awhhhh, were going to help our buddy install hallogens!
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Jan 16, 2020 08:36
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Feels like the discovery the bullet is a point of no return. Now I'll have to actively try to be a gently caress-up where that's concerned if I ever play this game. Oh well, that's what I get for being cheap.
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Jan 16, 2020 14:45
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I dunno, I feel like this game makes being a gently caress-up pretty effortless on the player's part.
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Jan 16, 2020 14:57
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Cindy the Skull is an odd character. Always gave me the vibe she'd be a bigger part of the story.
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Jan 16, 2020 19:48
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Supersonic Shine posted:Feels like the discovery the bullet is a point of no return. Now I'll have to actively try to be a gently caress-up where that's concerned if I ever play this game. Oh well, that's what I get for being cheap. Hey fun fact: My first run through the game, I FAILED TO REALIZE THERE WAS A BULLET AT ALL and closed the cause of death that day as a textbook lynching and didnt even realize my fuckup til I psychically linked to the morgue days later.
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Jan 18, 2020 12:44
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Chapter 16: 15:31-17:13: Let’s Get Wild Time to bamboozle a capitalist.     JOYCE MESSIER: “Good afternoon, officers, I’m Joyce.” She extends her hand in greeting.   JOYCE MESSIER: “Nothing, honestly. I’ve said it to every drunk in town and you’re the first one who’s responded.” AUTHORITY: [Medium: Success] What is implied here?! That you’re a *drunk*?!  JOYCE MESSIER: “I’m glad to see you here.” The woman and the lieutenant exchange a brief handshake. EMPATHY: [Medium: Success] She is unfazed by your rudeness, probably chalking it up to local custom. JOYCE MESSIER: “I was dispatched to handle a strike, not a lynching. Anything I can do to assist the RCM in this matter, I will, gladly.” KIM KITSURAGI: “That is good to hear, madam.” He opens his notebook. “My colleague will take the lead on this interview. I should let you know that he’s recovering from an *unusual* medical episode—*very* unusual—but I can assure you of his ultimate competency.” Thanks, Kim! RHETORIC: [Medium: Success] There’s a trace of irony in his voice. Mischief even. This is a tactic. Oh.      JOYCE MESSIER: “I haven’t seen anyone else drive a souped-up Coupris Kineema motor carriage either.” KIM KITSURAGI: “Actually,” the lieutenant becomes defensive, “that motor carriage has been specially issued to serve as a patrol and *pursuit* vehicle. It’s for crossing long distances in the Greater Revachol Industrial Harbour. It’s not a toy.” JOYCE MESSIER: “Neither is this.” The woman pats the cabin hardtop. “A toy, I mean. It’s a machine for crossing long distances in the bay of Revachol. Between the city and the islands.”   JOYCE MESSIER: “The boat? No. *It* is called Cor-de-Leite ‘19—because that’s the type of sloop it is.” INLAND EMPIRE: [Medium: Success] The word *it* feels strange. Such a beautiful boat deserves a proper name…  JOYCE MESSIER: “Okay. How about Cor-de-Leite ‘19. Why?” She taps on the side of the boat, it makes a hollow sound…     JOYCE MESSIER: “My sloop? I like it a lot.” Her lips curl into a wry smile. “It’s the *eel’s hips*, baby.” KIM KITSURAGI: “I’m enjoying this part of the interview—it has *so* little to do with the murder we’re investigating.”  JOYCE MESSIER: “Officer, I assure you I’m a highly qualified pleasure craft operator.” PERCEPTION (SIGHT): [Easy: Success] The crowns of her teeth are porcelain, white as the boat’s hull as she smiles.   KIM KITSURAGI: “Detective, may I remind you that Mrs. Messier is a *professional negotiator*?” He doesn’t look like he thinks you’ll best her in single combat. JOYCE MESSIER: “Then what does that say?” She points to the plaque on the side of the pier. “Does it say *docking reserved for residents of Rue de Saint-Ghislaine 33A*?”      JOYCE MESSIER: “I assure you, they drove quite the hard bargain for this space—but you’re right. I am a bourgeois woman and this is my long, incredibly lightweight, interminably bourgeois boat.”   JOYCE MESSIER: “What *we* do—I’m afraid I don’t speak for Wild Pines as a whole. It’s a giant undertaking.”  JOYCE MESSIER: “The Pines’ *core competency* is logistics—container shipping, freight, that sort of thing.” She points to the small dots on the horizon. “See those airships there, blinking? Those are the shipping side of things…” …then to the east, toward the harbour: “And that is the terminal. Another subdivision deals with energy—oil and gas exploration. Offshore platforms.”    JOYCE MESSIER: “I’m not at liberty to discuss the company balance sheet, but I *can* tell you that last year the company booked more than 20 billion reál in revenue.”    JOYCE MESSIER: “Twenty billion is a large number, but the conglomerate employs 72,000 people. They all need to be paid. Then there are capital improvements, interest payments…” A wave hits the sloop, she grasps the mainstay for balance.  JOYCE MESSIER: “They started as an exploration and cargo fleet conducting trade between the Samaran and Insulindian isolas—250 years ago, when Pines’ ships explored the South-Semenese and charted Lo Manthang on behalf of the suzerain.”        JOYCE MESSIER: “Good luck—It’s only kept in place by the vested interests of half the civilized world, including your own.” KIM KITSURAGI: “What the ma’am means is that the Emergencies Act and the RCM both get their authority from the Coalition Government.”   JOYCE MESSIER: “I believe the official title is Senior Labor Negotiator. In practice I’m a grocery clerk. I relay the Union’s demands to Wild Pines, and return with Wild Pines’ counter-offer…” KIM KITSURAGI: "And how are the talks going?" JOYCE MESSIER: “They’re *not*. That’s the problem. The Union stopped all negotiations a week ago. After that awful lynching took place.”   JOYCE MESSIER: “Let’s say I was not making the kind of progress I’d hoped for when I first arrived…” KIM KITSURAGI: “And when did you first arrive?” JOYCE MESSIER: “I arrived three weeks ago…” She thinks. “Yes, in the middle of February—the bay was still partially frozen then. I prefer to do these things on-site. Like the RCM.” KIM KITSURAGI: He looks at his notes. “But the strike began in *December*. JOYCE MESSIER: “I wasn’t the original negotiator here. I took over after Mr. Gaumont hit a wall with Mr. Claire, the Union boss. Mr. Claire refused to speak with Gaumont, despite *concessions* he’d granted the Union in prior negotiations.” KIM KITSURAGI: “This isn’t the first time the Union has gone on strike?” JOYCE MESSIER: “Heavens, no. There have been *two* prior strikes. Both times the Union won significant concessions—including overtime pay *and* a medical plan. This time their demands are more… I guess you could say *aggressive*.”  JOYCE MESSIER: “Mr. Claire told him to, how did he put it?” She pauses to compose herself…  JOYCE MESSIER: “Keep in mind, this is a negotiator Mr. Claire has worked with before, and who was more than fair with him and the Union.”  JOYCE MESSIER: “There are leaflets everywhere, and banners… what did they say again? Oh, yes… *EVERY WORKER—A MEMBER OF THE BOARD!*”    JOYCE MESSIER: “It’s quite simple, you see. Every time the Wild Pines group makes a decision—about, what? About *anything* really—it needs the signature of *each* of the 2,200 workers in its Martinaise terminal.”   JOYCE MESSIER: “I’m not sure. Naturally I assumed that was just their opening position, a hard-nosed tactic with a side of mockery. But there’s been no follow-up, just the same nonsensical slogan repeated over and over again… And *now* people are getting *lynched* I hear. Behind the Whirling-in-Rags… a disastrous situation if there ever was one.” KIM KITSURAGI: “Excuse me,” the lieutenant looks up from his notes, “From whom did you *hear* about this lynching?” JOYCE MESSIER: Her reply comes quick: “I first heard it from the *boia* at the gates—ther one whose very name advertises his aversion to work. I think he said it was *Call Me Mañana.*”  JOYCE MESSIER: “The *scabs*?” She raises her brow. “You mean the huddled masses of Jamrock, come to plead for work where the Union refuses to? If they were organized by Wild Pines or its affiliates then it would be a company secret. I could not share it with you—not right now at least…”      JOYCE MESSIER: “Edgar looks *exactly* like his brother, except for that lazy eye. He also *talks* exactly like Evrart does. And when one’s term as foreman is up, the other takes over.”  JOYCE MESSIER: The Débardeurs’ Union was once a perfectly normal institution. Twenty years ago, anyway. It must *not* have been easy to establish under the Emergency Act, but they did it. I can respect that.” She adjusts her hair. “Organized labour at its best, as they say. Then something happened in the local chapter elections. The Brothers Claire came and transformed it into a… how do you say?” She hesitates, looking for the right expression. KIM KITSURAGI: “A mob.” The lieutenant says succinctly. “The Débardeurs are a crime syndicate. Sad as it may be, we’re forced to cooperate with them.” JOYCE MESSIER: “Refreshingly honest, officer.” She nods. “The company has tried appeasing in the past, but I’m afraid our concessions have only emboldened Evrart and his brother.”    JOYCE MESSIER: “I’m glad you asked. There was a woman—the previous forewoman of the Union. She disappeared.” KIM KITSURAGI: “Disappeared?” JOYCE MESSIER: “Yes. On the last day of the local chapter elections her daughter phoned in and said she wasn’t running any more—or coming to work. Ever. End of story.”  JOYCE MESSIER: “Indeed. The company suspects foul play, but there’s nothing they could do, it was a Union matter. The point of the presentation is—these kinds of things *happen* around the Claires. Watch out when you’re dealing with him.”     JOYCE MESSIER: “Of course,” she curtsies slightly. “You are an honourable man—*way* above the money I could offer, so I won’t even try. And of course… I do not *expect* you to share anything Evrart told you with me—not being a corrupt *würm* myself. She pauses. “However, if you felt like passing *some* information… how could I stop you? Are we not human? Are we not *curious* to hear another person’s take? It’s only natural. We could only be…” she smiles, “gossiping.”  CONCEPTUALIZATION: [Medium: Success] Intellectually speaking… it would be quite *interesting* to hear what she has to say about these things…   JOYCE MESSIER: “*Beyond* curious. I will *choose* to interpret that as you turning the alcohol in the strike brew *down*—for the sake of our professional relationship.”  JOYCE MESSIER: “Oh!” Her eyes become large and round. “That’s so *helpful* of him…” KIM KITSURAGI: The lieutenant looks at you and you can swear his jaw muscle is trembling. COMPOSURE: [Medium: Success] He’s able to contain the anger and surprise. ESPRIT DE CORPS: [Medium: Success] When I said *be wacky* I didn’t mean *wildly, grossly irresponsible and damaging to the RCM*. Sorry, Kim, but this is what I have to do. I’m blazing new trails in negotiation, and if this doesn’t throw her off, what will? Remember, you asked for this. KIM KITSURAGI: “Unconventional police officers sometimes *lose* their guns. They then go around and tell people about this—to gauge their reactions. It’s all part of *detecting*.”  JOYCE MESSIER: “Ah yes. As you said.” She looks confused for a moment. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED KIM KITSURAGI: “Please don’t get him into a loop. If he gets in a loop it will last *forever*. Ask him to say something else please.” LOGIC: [Medium: Success] That’s wrong! You don’t get into loops! JOYCE MESSIER: “Of course. Thank you for the advice—I’m glad you were here to assist.” She turns to you: “Your *other* dealings with Evrart are still of considerable interest to me…”  where’s the option to tell her we’re breaking into someone’s house for Evrart JOYCE MESSIER: “Of course, detective,” she simmers down. “Should something come up, later down the road—don’t be afraid to drop by for a chat.”  JOYCE MESSIER: “Quite a few things, I’m afraid…” She falls silent for a moment. Contemplating something.  KIM KITSURAGI: “Of course, ma’am. We should have introduced ourselves…” The lieutenant hands her a piece of blue plastic. “I’m Lieutenant Kitsuragi, from Precinct 57…” He points to you. “And this is my colleague from Precinct 41, Detective Du Bois. I’m afraid Harry doesn’t have his badge at the moment. I hope mine will suffice.” JOYCE MESSIER: “*Oh*. And what happened to yours, detective?” She returns the lieutenant’s badge and turns to you.   JOYCE MESSIER: “Oh, *dear*…” She sighs with compassion, sadness even. “I suppose this does explain some of the more *curious* turns in our conversation.” LOGIC: [Medium: Success] She must have been suspecting something for a while now. KIM KITSURAGI: “As I said, ma’am,” The lieutenant interjects, “his technique may be *very* unconventional. But he *is* an officer of the RCM.” JOYCE MESSIER: “Of course. I sympathize. But I’m afraid I simply can’t share anything more until I’ve seen that badge…”  SUGGESTION: I mean favours for favours. A *dirty* alliance of some sort.     JOYCE MESSIER: “I will be frank with you.” She puts down her thermal cup. “If I’m going to break protocol I need to be able to justify it to my superiors. They’re going to want to see something very *tangible*.”  JOYCE MESSIER: “Reports from inside Terminal B suggest it’s a hub for the local drug trade. This is an open secret in Martinaise. The Union *controls* the terminal, so it goes to reason…” You should have listened to Logic, idiot. Look what we’re getting roped into now. Rhetoric is gonna be so pissed we’re becoming capitalist toadies. JOYCE MESSIER: “The company has tried looking into the matter before—to no avail. Perhaps someone with *your* authority and resources might turn over the right stones? Or…” She picks the cup back up. “You can recover your badge—though if my may be blunt with you, it sounds like that may be a lost cause.”  Ah, gently caress. Now Kim’s come to pull us into the principal’s office, who is also him! Never trust a capitalist.  Before Kim chews us out, we get this thought. It’s another one that lowers Encyclopedia, which I’m annoyed about, but it’s totally worth it for a +3 boost to Perception.  Also, here’s the description for The Fifteenth Indotribe.  Finally, we have two leftover skill points we haven’t spent. Let’s put them into Drama and Reaction Speed.  Now, Kim time.   KIM KITSURAGI: “This woman is running circles around us. She might have known about your *misplaced badge* all along—or she’s simply an adept improviser. Either way, we’ve played straight into her hands.”  If this lady costs us our headlight replacement session with Kim later I’m gonna lose it.  KIM KITSURAGI: “No. If there is reasonable suspicion we must investigate. Otherwise she could claim we’re siding with the Union. Or that we’re on their take. We’d never hear the end of it…”  KIM KITSURAGI “Oh,” he nods slowly. “That would be *fantastic*. But do we have the time? The world is large—and your badge is eight-by-six centimetres.” LOGIC: [Medium: Success] The situation might have changed drastically by the time you locate it. Time is of the essence…    Alright, let’s get back into the frying pan.   JOYCE MESSIER: “Sadly I need this one myself. It’s hydrophobic, repels water, almost *magically*. The company makes them for offshore platform personnel. Very sturdy.”  JOYCE MESSIER: “It’s quite straightforward. Someone is using Terminal B to smuggle raw ingredients from the Samaran isola into Revachol with the Union’s blessing. Wild Pines has suspected it for years.” KIM KITSURAGI: “Ingredients for *what*, ma’am?”  JOYCE MESSIER: “Yes. After they clear the terminal we lose track. The actual production is taking place at various sites in and around Jamrock Quarter. North of here.” KIM KITSURAGI: “Wild Pines seems to be *well apprised* of the local drug trade, ma’am. Do you mean to say the Union also *produces* the product? Sells drugs, I mean?”  JOYCE MESSIER: “Yes. But you won’t get anything out of Evrart and the Dockworkers’ Union. Still—“ she raises her bony finger, “every chain has its weak link.”  JOYCE MESSIER: “*Precisely*. Someone needs to move the ingredients *from* the harbour into the city. Once they reach Jamrock they’re distributed to a network of local manufacturers, well beyond our grasp. But in transit they are *vulnerable*. Perhaps you’ve noticed that a number of lorries are tangled in a traffic jam at the roundabout just now? Interview the drivers who are still hanging about. One of them might be waiting for a *crucial* shipment.” She gives you a knowing look. PERCEPTION (SIGHT): [Medium: Success] Her irises are light green, like the river Esperance in bright daylight, upstream where it’s clearer.  JOYCE MESSIER: “We *did*, on more than one occasion. Apparently there’s some sort of inter-precinct disagreement about whose jurisdiction this area falls under.” KIM KITSURAGI: “We know the company has launched its own probe into the Union’s alleged involvement—we also know it’s come up empty. It’s not just the RCM—*no one’s* been able to find any hard evidence.”    We take a brief moment in the middle of this conversation to add a point to Encyclopedia to offset the one we lost from the Col Do Ma Ma Daqua thought.  JOYCE MESSIER: She looks North. “Thousands of litres of raw ingredients will pour onto the streets of Revachol. Not the East, across the river, but the West. The vulnerable, the weary…” KIM KITSURAGI: “Well—at least this solves *one* mystery.” JOYCE MESSIER: “What is that, lieutenant?” KIM KITSURAGI: “Why I had to call East Motor Tract—and *beg* them to open the drawbridge for me. I’d wondered since I first drove *in* on my motor carriage.”  JOYCE MESSIER: “How do you think they’re financing this strike? There are thousands of unpaid dockworkers going strong for the fourth month straight.” KIM KITSURAGI: “There was a shakedown of local businesses preceding the strike. Many were squeezed to bankruptcy to fund it.”   JOYCE MESSIER: “The two *might* even be connected.” KIM KITSURAGI: “Or not—though if you have evidence to the contrary I’m *eager* to hear it.”   gently caress it, you already told Cuno you were a narc, might as well make it official. JOYCE MESSIER: “Excellent.” She takes a long sip of tea. “According to my reports there are at least three lorry drivers lingering near the roundabout. Hopefully one of them will know something. It may come to nothing, or it may just blow the case wide open. I can keep the drawbridge up for a few more days at least. You should have the time you need.”   JOYCE MESSIER: “Better not to tie the forestay to the backstay on this. I hope there is something else I can help you with?”  Oh boy, finally time to ask her about reality! You’ve been salivating over this option since you started talking to her! JOYCE MESSIER: “This… *reality*?” She pulls her hood closer around her neck. DRAMA: [Medium: Success] Yes, reality is your side-case.  JOYCE MESSIER: “Ah yes—the *episode*. Sounds like an acute case of encephalopathy now that I think of it…” She puts down her thermal cup and looks at you. KIM KITSURAGI: “Don’t be fazed, madam. He functions perfectly well. He only needs a… *lowdown* on all of reality.” JOYCE MESSIER: “We may be here awhile, then.” She takes a long sip of tea. “Ask away, officer—I’ll help however I can.”    JOYCE MESSIER: “Ha!” She smiles. “Aren’t we all?”  JOYCE MESSIER: “Martinaise is a district of Revachol.” She looks around, her green raincoat flapping in the wind. “A very small district tucked away near the Industrial Harbour. North of the 8/81 and Jamrock.”  JOYCE MESSIER: “I’m not a good ambassador. I’ve only been here once before, as a teenager. Not a lot has changed…” She closes her eyes. “There are ruins, a terminal, fishing boats, reeds. Boys with boxy shoulders.”   JOYCE MESSIER: “Yes. We are on an island in an ocean. The world’s largest body of water—the Insulindic.” ENCYCLOPEDIA: [Medium: Success] Known to the early Revacholians as *les Immensités Bleu*—The Blue Immensities.  JOYCE MESSIER: “Caillou, as you already know.” She looks to the waters. “Imagine a pebble, a smoothed-over pebble amidst a great blue sea. Mis-shapen, cracked. The cracks are the River Esperance. We’re in the delta of this river, on the sixth branch—the Martinaise distributary.” EMPATHY: [Easy: Success] It is clear this *pebble* is of enormous value to her…   JOYCE MESSIER: “The *Great* kind.”     JOYCE MESSIER: “They say it’s where the *terrible* questions of our time will be answered—the tensions are highest, the faultlines deepest.”   JOYCE MESSIER: “I think it’s fair to say so. Martinaise is about…” She points across the water, where the skyscrapers rise… PERCEPTION (SIGHT): [Medium: Success] A collection of tall ghosts behind the water vapour, light reflecting off their glass windows.  JOYCE MESSIER: Silence. She lowers her hand. INLAND EMPIRE: [Trivial: Success] The water, the light… It’s as though you’re seeing it for the *first* time.   INLAND EMPIRE: [Easy: Success] This is one thought you *need* to complete. Where are you? JOYCE MESSIER: “Was there something else you wanted to know? I remember something about a low-down…” KIM KITSURAGI: “This has been informative, thank you ma’am. I’m sure my memory-impaired partner has *many* more questions to ask…” He turns to you. “…about even more fundamental aspects of reality…”  “loving magnets, how do they work?”  As interesting as this has been, Kim is correct. You have other stuff you need to do today.     You’ve been shanghaied by a capitalist into the seedy world of (investigating) drug trafficking. Will you follow up on that next, or finally go talk to the Hardies? Arist fucked around with this message at 22:56 on Jan 18, 2020 |
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Jan 18, 2020 21:50
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Also, I know I haven't done a Botchcop in a while, so hopefully that'll be next update.
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Jan 18, 2020 21:51
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Wait wait wait. How does Raphael know what a boat is? There wasn't even a check there. He forgot the concept of money and books.
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Jan 18, 2020 21:58
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cant cook creole bream posted:Wait wait wait. How does Raphael know what a boat is? There wasn't even a check there. He forgot the concept of money and books. Every once in a while, he just knows a thing.
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Jan 18, 2020 22:05
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Yeowch!!! My Balls!!! posted:Every once in a while, he just knows a thing. That's crazy-talk. I am starting to think he made it all up.
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Jan 18, 2020 22:19
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Arist posted:JOYCE MESSIER: “Ah yes. As you said.” She looks confused for a moment. ... The two thoughts you get from Joyce are absolutely brilliant. I genuinely recommend anyone playing along to outright bee-line for them the moment they leave the hotel.
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Jan 18, 2020 22:37
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Arist posted:KIM KITSURAGI: “They’re *not*. That’s the problem. The Union stopped all negotiations a week ago. After that awful lynching took place.” This is Joyce's line; Kim should say "And how are the talks going?"
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Jan 18, 2020 22:53
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Phelddagrif posted:This is Joyce's line; Kim should say "And how are the talks going?" Thanks~
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Jan 18, 2020 22:56
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I like her writing a lot!
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Jan 19, 2020 07:07
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Joyce is a really good character. Also her conversation theme is really cool.
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Jan 19, 2020 07:39
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For somebody in her position, Joyce seems rather less terrible than one might expect. Of course, that might just be because she knows how her position makes people predisposed to think about her and strives to offset it, but trying to assess that sort of thing gets recursive, and down that mental avenue madness lies. Still, it seems like we might be able to work with her, as long as we're careful about things. Also, as far as 'working for The Man' goes, 'interrupting the supply chain for illegal drugs' is probably the least objectionable form it could take.
vdate fucked around with this message at 03:36 on Jan 20, 2020 |
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Jan 19, 2020 21:22
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I find it interesting that you put all the SP in directly. I guess you have a plan, but for someone playing blind, it's generally best to keep 2-3 points in reserve to act as reroll opportunities.
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Jan 20, 2020 09:24
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Regallion posted:I find it interesting that you put all the SP in directly. I guess you have a plan, but for someone playing blind, it's generally best to keep 2-3 points in reserve to act as reroll opportunities. Or to take advantage of the fact that you can allocate skills mid-convo to boost the odds of passing a red check.
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Jan 20, 2020 10:26
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That one is a bit less useful, mostly because you cannot change clothes mid-convo, and if you happened into a red check while wearing a -2/-3 enesmble, an extra skill point will likely not tip your chances much. For that one, the good'ol "savescumming" is more useful. Oh and protip: don't EVER fail authority checks. I failed 2 and both times it was a complete and utter disaster.
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Jan 20, 2020 10:32
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Regallion posted:mostly because you cannot change clothes mid-convo, SAVOIR FAIRE: [Medium: Success] Kick them off as a flourish at the end! HAND/EYE COORDINATION: [Medium: Success] Don't trip.
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Jan 20, 2020 17:47
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I'm a bit sad we didn't take off our shirt when we tried to face off with measurehead to try it with the coach physical instrument bonus. It seems we would have missed out on the stuff involved with finding another way into the docks if we succeeded, but it would have been cool as all heck.
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Jan 20, 2020 20:11
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vdate posted:For somebody in her position, Joyce seems rather less terrible than one might expect. Of course, that might just be because she knows how her position makes people predisposed to think about her and strives to offset it, but trying to assess that sort of thing gets recursive, and down that mental avenue madness lies. I was honestly really uncomfortable talking to both of them.
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Jan 20, 2020 21:51
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Her first impression benefits a lot from the comparison of just having come from talking to Evrart. Kim did warn us she'd be polite without telling us anything.
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Jan 20, 2020 21:57
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Fish Noise posted:AUTHORITY: [Medium: Success] Maintain eye contact as you remove your pants. It's a *power move*! SUGGESTION: [Trivial: Failure] DO THE HELICOPTER DICK
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Jan 20, 2020 22:00
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I wonder if suggesting "Dolores" as a ship name and Revachol being built in the "Dolorian century" are related. No idea how, but.
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Jan 21, 2020 08:38
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I hope we can get to the next page before the next update.
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Jan 21, 2020 08:44
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Turpitude II posted:I wonder if suggesting "Dolores" as a ship name and Revachol being built in the "Dolorian century" are related. No idea how, but. We like to talk about how Harry Potter is the only book people have read, but disco elysium takes place in the horrible mirror-world where it was the only one ever written, leading people to name boats and centuries after it's characters.
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Jan 21, 2020 09:02
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Turpitude II posted:I wonder if suggesting "Dolores" as a ship name and Revachol being built in the "Dolorian century" are related. No idea how, but. Maybe it's the century named after Marty McFly's car. The truth will out. There are arguments for running to get 15th indotribe and Jamis Vu nigh-immediaty in the game, but not strong enugh to truly matter.
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Jan 21, 2020 09:27
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Taking your shirt off should be mandatory before all physical confrontations. Everyone knows that a man without a shirt is not to be trifilled with.
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Jan 21, 2020 12:14
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