Part 5: Lost in Translation

Update 4 - Lost in Translation

Did I forget to mention that's there's cyberspace access throughout the cafe?



Steak Flavored Gum solved Benny's crossword riddle, and some others chimed in.


The entire thing translated is something like, "I can. Languages are my practice and my life. I work for a company that designs word codes. Place them in your deck and you can examine the major languages. I can tell you that the codes are in a bundle at address noun." Noun is the well where we need to go.



One screen down...



Well, not really. We could ignore him if we wanted to, but what's the fun in that?



We were warned about this guy.

Really. And just who chose you as exalted ruler?
Do not mock me! I know who you are, Ransom Stark. I've tracked you. I know of your pathetic attempts to infiltrate TransTechnicals, your feeble information pirating. You are no more than a byte in the vast realm of cyberspace. I have done great deeds in the net. MY POWER IS UNSURPASSED!
Then what do you want me for?
Your attitude offends me! You do not respect my authority. Others pay me the homage I have earned. I've done more in the net than you'll ever dream of Stark. I've found my way into niches of TransTech you didn't even know existed, slithered out of Security's grasp countless times, amassed a great fortune. I was shutting down the New York Telephone System for kicks before you even knew what a decking unit was. You sicken me.

Wow, this guy is hard core as fuck.

Then get out of my way.
I will, but only if you have the courage to settle this like men.
Settle what?
SILENCE! You must pay for your transgressions against me, the Great One. I thought nothing would ever give me more pleasure than the network, but I believe something will--watching you die at my hands back in New York. I want to see your feeble form beaten to a pulp and hear you beg for mercy. You talk big, Stark. If you have any guts and any pride left, you'll appear at my home base at NYU. If you don't show, you'll be laughed out of the matrix by every decker in the net. You win, you'll get all my decking equipment and information, but fat chance of that happening. Enjoy this cyberspace trip, Stark. It will be your last.

Home base at NYU? Watch out.



Another side-quest!



Anyway, hopefully there will actually be something here to translate Gerry Soo's note.



Uh...



Thankfully, this isn't copy protection. I like doing logic puzzles like this. We can actually visit the Hard Metals, Black Aggots, and Kafka Conspiracy. The other gangs are nowhere to be found in-game.

We've got nine gangs to order.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _


Let's take the clues in chronological order. The first clue reveals the only position set in stone. R is in the 6th position.

_ _ _ _ _ R _ _ _

The next two give us the general position of the SZ and PM.



The next clue tells us that UP is between BA and SZ, so there are two possible combinations.



The next clue reveals the order of the first 5. If HM is after BA and before KC, but UP is between SZ and BA, then the order must be SZ UP BA HM KC. I'm not sure what "use the provided employee code here" means. It sounds like copy protection, but there's nothing in the manual about it.



Now we only have the last three to worry about, on the condition that the last clues don't contradict the first 5. We only have three gangs left: PM, ND, and CB.

Knowing that CB doesn't occupy the first position doesn't help, given that we've solved the first 5 positions. However, knowing that CB cannot be next to R or ND does help. This leaves us with two possible combinations.

PM CB ND
ND PM CB

For the correct one, we have to turn to a clue Benny Puzzle gave us.



_ the _. I have a _: The _ _ must be _ to the _ _.

Here's my best attempt.

12 down: caution, warning; (the) = Note (?)
11 across: slippery part of the pond. (I have a) = rocky (?)
12 across: key to the mystery: (The) = clue (?)
13 down: physical suffering; = pain
14 downL women who birthed us; (must be) = mothers
14 across: not far; (to the) = next
16 down: link between brain and spine; = nerve
15 across: opponents with pistols. = duelists

Note (?) the rocky (? what the fuck. slippery part of a pond? A pond is a body of water). I have a clue (?): The Pain Mothers must be next to the Nerve Duelists.

Only the last sentence is important. Of course, next could easily replaced with close, but that doesn't help us much. Let's assume it's next.

If ND is next to PM, and CB can't be next to R or ND, the combination must be ND PM CB. Thus, we've solved the puzzle.





Hey, there's a file.



That doesn't help us translate the note! How in the world does a piece of someone's mind end up in a corporate well? Not like I'm complaining. Three down, two to go.



Maybe there's something in here, just hidden. Time to search.



Lash has an observation score of 89. Honestly, observation should just have been a yes/no trait. Either you have enough observation to find hidden objects or you don't. If certain areas require more observation, it's all hidden in the background. I wouldn't be surprised if it actually is binary, as it seems.



What the fuck. This shouldn't happen! We've got Rhymma Fizz, who's got good decking skills! Anyway, observing either in cyberspace or in the real world takes time off the clock, so we've spent a good amount of time searching. Still, i've never had this happen before. To make up for it, there's a now-visible file we can check out.



Exactly what we need.



We can use it outside of cyberspace, but why not use it now.



There's Elvis' mind and three pieces of Charlie's.



There we go. Drag it to the 'use' icon to use it.



That was easy. I'm not sure what your hacking skills have to be to use it, but again, it seems to be yes/no. We've got to deck out to access our real inventory.



It was pretty hilarious to see you guys try to translate the note. I'll just quote those posts now, so we won't lose them.


SSNeoman also had another good post about the actual answer. I've omitted the spoiler tags.


So let's go to Cyril's well. It's 4:15 am now, rather than 3:30 am. Our implant told us to deck out, but fuck our implant.





Cyril is that dragon soul box. There are no items to be found here.



This seems to be a solution for another puzzle, but we don't know what the puzzle is or what 'the possession' is. In essence, we solved a puzzle to solve another puzzle to solve a third puzzle, and that sent us to the solution, which it's important to note is a puzzle, to another puzzle we don't know about, which is puzzle in and of itself. Welcome to BloodNet.



Let's head to one of those gangs that we know about from the puzzle. We also have some info on the Doom Pilots from our contacts.






There are 5. Maybe it's just that Stark can't count to 5. Who's that guy in the yellow?



HoloGraham. Goddamn it. We've got info on Holo King Graham in our contacts list, along with his daughter.



Sis Konfigg? What the fuck is with these names? Is this a pun on being cisgendered?




Okay. She's in the white, across from Holograham.



Aw, c'mon.
Seriously, I'd like to help out. I know you've got to finance this little endeavor of yours. I just hit the mother lode. Got the cyberspace address of the Bank of New York. Why shouldn't I let an old friend have the privilege of going in and giving himself a little advance now and again, right? But I do need one thing. I need a level four cloaking chip. I've been dangerously close to getting caught in the net lately. I'm on to something big. I don't want to lose it. Can we help each other out?



Yes yes and yes. Money isn't a problem, but getting caught in the net is even less of a problem. We don't have a level 4 cloak right now, but this will be worth it when we do.

Great. As soon as you get your hands on a level-four cloaking chip, the code's yours. Hey, I know we're friends, Stark, but in this biz, you gotta look out for yourself.

Now we'll talk to the leader, Stive. Not Steve, Stive. Remember, it's the future.

Remember me, Stive?



Ransom Stark. I hired you and a few other Doom Pilots a couple of years ago to help me crack a DuPont stack. You were good. Led us out of TransTech c-space. Hell, I still don't have a clue how to do that.
Yeah, I remember you. We carried your butt on that one. We don't contract anymore, so if you're talent-hunting, try the Flux Riders. Those little losers still whore themselves.

We've got info on the Flux Riders in our contacts. It turns out that the Flux Riders are Stark's old gang.



You want me to believe the Doom Pilots don't slip the net anymore?
Didn't say that, did I? Said we don't hire out. Hypocritical. We rant about information freedom and total access, then we hand it over to the big wallets. Now we're living what we talk. Even negotiating with the Kafka Conspiracy about joint action.
My loss then, Stive. You're the best.
Freedom fighter now, Stark.

Next up is someone named Ghost Walker.



He's a very angsty young man.

What I'm hearing true? Pilots not freejacking anymore?



But he sure doesn't look young. Note that this conversation happens even if you didn't speak to Stive.

Guess I'm out of luck.
Who you humping for? Probably undercover for TransTech. Maybe hiring out to some penthouse wallet who wants to lay his eyes on restricted data.
Telling me a Doom Pilot has problems with that?
I got a problem with the Company making a fortune fencing off cyberspace and the fact that only people who can afford a deck jockey get access that everyone deserves.
If the Doom Pilots are copping an attitude, I can live with it. Not like I haven't melted ICE before.



If you're gonna do it, try it with a little vasopressin or psilo blossom in you. It gives you a more seamless mind/c-space interface. Movements become more intuitive. Dealer named Madame Mescal deals the stuff. You can find her at 96st and Broadway. Mention my name if you have to.

No. The net is a joke, anyway. What's good about this conversation is that we now have the location of a drug dealer, so we can buy some red lifters for Bonton.



Last is Scream Wipe.

Now you I know. Remember? We cracked the CityBank virtual commodities portfolio and downloaded the entire dbase into a Bank of Beirut cluster. Afterwards we spent three days celebrating at the Club Med orbital.



I wish. It's present nightmares keep me moving these days. Handling some dangerous scenarios. May involve the Company.
May? Company's not usually very subtle about its presence.
No, but some of its individuals are. Problem is, you can't always tell how deep TransTech has their hooks into somebody.
Find out. You got a deck. Use it. TransTech External Security maintains a cluster loaded with records on half the people in the city. Doom Pilots are out of the business, but there are other decks for sale if you want to melt security's ICE. The address for their cluster is TTheat.

Awesome. I like the doom pilots.

Thanks. You didn't have to do that.
One for pleasant memories. Don't be reckless. Net's thick with cages, and security isn't just clipping wings. Streets buzzin' about summary executions, about the Company leaving angels to rot in cages.

That doesn't sound good.

Any Pilots dealing cloaks?
Never warm enough to be strippin' cloaks. TransTech headquarters is still the best place for the latest hardware, but you either need a mole inside or an army to invade the place.
Big building. Easy to get lost in. Others have done it.
Yeah and a lot more others have gotten shot apart in there. Must be some action for you to be considering a run on the headquarters.

We do have the address of TransTech's headquarters, but we're kicked out by some sort of robot immediately if we go there. We need a TT badge to get in. Even then, like Ghost Wipe says, security is all over the place, and will shoot intruders on sight.

Main Quests
Find the Lost Kids
Visit the Red Crosse Knights in the north end of Manhattan
Visit Ludwig Sampson on 125th street.

Side Quests
Leo Elvis needs a new pair of shoes body.
Collect the other two pieces of Charley Flyer's mind.
Visit Timmy Goldfarb down at the Autonomy Dogs
Penn Martinez will help us with complex computer code
Get Hakim a Praxis 3000
Visit the Kafka Conspiracy
Put the possession next to Cyril Thorpe in Cafe Voltaire.
Get someone to vouch for us so we can talk to Lenora Major
Head to the Electric Anarchy
Meet Zeus at NYU
Trade Sis Konfigg a Level Four Cloak for the WELL address of the New York Bank.
Visit WELL TTHeat
Find a way to get into TTHQ

New Locations Gained
NYU
Madame Mescal

I've played through the next part, and we do get Bonton in our party.