Part 7: the_homeless.bin

Update 6 - the_homeless.bin



Dismiss Member: Monique St. Clair is removed from the party

Sometimes dismissed party members will go back to where they originally were. Sometimes they disappear from the game entirely. I'm not sure what happens to Monique.



Dismissed party members leave all their shit behind in a bundle, and then we've got to tediously drag each item into our inventory one at a time.



We'll equip Garrick with a Kevlar jacket and lazer rifle. Both Rymma and Garrick come with their own decks.




The voice acting here is worth a listen because of how bad it is.

Barely. I got more important things to do than watch you kick around that poor kid anyway.

Garrick's VO actually voices this line, unlike where Stark voiced Rymma's lines.

What are you, his mother? You're breakin' my heart here. If you think you're gonna get away with stiffin' us, Fizz, guess again. We paid you to get us access codes to TransTech security. You're gonna get us those codes. One way or another.

Empty theats.



We're first heading back to Sampson's Lab to grab that cyborg torso.



This isn't true. We only need one arm and one leg. Interestingly, what the description doesn't tell us is that we need to Jury Rig the cyborg together, and that requires Jury-Rigging Tools. We'll have to get those from somewhere.



If we need to find a holy person, we should check the one catherdral is all of Manhattan.



I think they want people to think that the company is God.



Those cups on the ground are Holy Water Cruets. They hold "blessed water that, when used as a melee weapon, causes vampires who are struck by it to retreat." I've never bothered using them. We can kill vampires another way. I'm not picking them up. If we would search the place, there's a hidden cross which functions as armor against vampires. I'm not picking that up either.



Let's see if he can help.



May I see him?
Mother Mary's not in at the, uh, moment. I'm Brother Complicitus, the, uh, liturgical assistant. I'm afraid you'll have to see Mother Mary. I'm very busy right at the moment. You can find Mother Mary at the Great Lawn camps during the day. She conducts a mission there. Uh, among the poor, you know.

According to the text file, we don't actually need a pastor. BloodNet makes us get one anyway.



Let's see if we can find her. We've actually got some information on Central Park in our contacts.



Uh-oh.




A lot of these people wouldn't be here if we came here during the night. The first thing we're going to do is search the area.



We find two piles of dirt. They're quest items. We only need one of these, but I took both. Let's get to talking to these people.



He looks about five years old.

What are you talking about, kid?
Slick Earl knows a merc when he sees one. And I got the stuff to do it with. Look here.
Just junk, Slick Earl.
No, sir! Killer, you can use this hose, this nozzle, and this here tub to make you a fine weapon. I'll give them to you for 300 bucks.
Three hundred? What makes you so sure I won't just take the things from you?
'Cause you a tough guy, but you sure wouldn't hurt no kid. Slick Earl can tell. You buyin' my valuables?
No.
Then you're a fool. But Slick Earl will be here when you wise up.

He's selling parts for a Flame Thrower, but jury rigged weapons are uselss. I'll explain why once we get to jury rigging.



What's wrong?
Nobody else in the shanties will help us. They say there's not enough food to go around. I need to get some food. I found these. Maybe you could buy them from me for, say, 35 bucks so I could get a couple meals? They're electrodes. Could probably use them to build something, don't you think? What do you say?

Why not? They're useless, but he could probably use some food.

Yes.
Here they are. Why don't you tell the shackers to try to be as nice as you, mister?

Transfer Money: Marty receives 35 dollars. You now have 88237 dollars in your account.
Give Object: The Electrode is placed in the inventory of Max Bax.



Next is Kimba West.



I'm looking for former TransTech employees willing to earn some money informing on the Company.
Hard not to find a TransTech disgrunt on the Great Lawn. Not that any of them would spill to an External Security contractor. Get lost, ace, before someone takes a shot at you.
I don't work for TransTechnicals. Worked for them once, but all I got for it was a life's worth of trouble.
That's a familiar story. I'm Kimba West. I'm sorta the mayor of the shanty town, running things with the help of my friends. One way or another, we've all had a falling out with the Company. I was a project supervisor. Had fifty people working under me designing power systems. Along comes the Prometheus chip and management axes our whole division. I protested the dismissal and was blackballed from ever working for one of the subsidiaries.

I'm pretty sure this Prometheus chip never comes up again.

It's been a long time since I've been through here. It's even more squalid than I remember.
No kidding, Ace. Some of us are working to change that. We've set up the Great Lawn Restoration Board to bring some civic necessities to the camps, things like reliable electricity, maybe access to public networks. These folks are my friends: Jason was a brilliant programmer for the Company until they deleted him. You have to watch him, though, he's pretty intense and rant-prone. Sanders is loyal, but his eyes limit his usefulness. Karla is an excellent scrounger, but she's made it clear she'll only follow me so far.
Looks like you'd need a miracle to get this place together.
What we need is a data angel and maybe some fire power to back it up.
I might be able to help you with that, for a price.
Should be obvious that we lack the funds to contract a freelance. Still, we can be of use to you, if you really do have a grudge against TransTech. Interested?
Could be.
What we most need is a supply of fiber optic cable. With that we could illegally jack into a junction box that Jason discovered about a mile from here. That would give us access not only to intergrid, but to cyberspace itself. Bring us the cable, and we'll grant you access to our jack, a safe place to deck from whenever you need it. Also, as former TransTech employees, we can trade a few corporate secrets in exchange for the cable. Not cash, but potentially the next best thing.
Where am I supposed to get fiber optics? They're restricted tech.
The Brooklyn headquarters contains spools of the stuff. I know for a fact that a storeroom adjacent to Dr. Framp's nanotechnology lab contains some of it. Return with it, and we can talk. TransTech has the most sophisticated surveillance systems ever devised. You'll be detected almost everytime you enter the building unless you take special precautions. I know an angel named Lenora Major who can imprint your data profile into the security system so that it will recognize you as a TransTech employee. All you'll have to worry about then is being personally sighted by one of the many security teams roaming the headquarters. You can find Lenora at the Cafe Voltaire near the Canal Street subway stop.

Awesome. If it wasn't clear, we're gearing up for a raid on TransTechnicals. We need to, unfortunately, go back to Cafe Voltaire, as well as get a TransTech badge. We could have bought a badge from that drug dealer, but there's a more intersting way of aquiring one. Let's talk to Jason, that brilliant programmer.



graceful, not a wasted character, not an ounce of syntactic flab.

Woah, settle down.

Oh, you're an impressive guy. I can see why you're shacking on a mud field.

Wow, Stark is kind of an asshole.

Nuke you! One day we were programming, the next the Company converts whole areas of cyberspace to a new language and series of access codes designed by another, entirely secret, team of pragmaticians. I've since learned that the Company always has several virtual engineering teams working in parallel to one another, approaching the same problems in entirely different ways. You see, that way the Company is never too dependent on any one group of employees and can fire them whenever it wants. They made a mistake deleting me; I know too much. If Kimba gives the word, I can tell you things that will shake TransTech to its source code.

Sounds like this information could be good. We'll be sure to talk to him after getting Kimba the cable.



The more someone attempts to speak with authority about the wickedness of human nature, the less they have actually considered the concept of human nature.

You remind me of myself until recently. I thought I was the coldest, hardest bastard in Manhattan. But I've met some folks who showed me that there's always someone harder and colder--cold as death.
That's my whole point, wirehead. City like Manhattan is full of people afraid they got to be crueler than the next guy to avoid getting hurt. Thinking like that's what makes TransTech possible. Believe me, I've been there. Worked eight years as a virtual commodities trader for Drexel-Burnham. One day I just quit. I'm not like these losers. Nobody deleted me; I quit.

I don't like her. Let's move on.



Why don't you wait a few years before you start talking like that, darlin'.
Listen, I've been tasting the flower since before you even knew what it was. I'll trade you a psilo blossom for this old circuitry lining I found. Deal?

No. I wouldn't do this even if we had what she was looking for.

Well, come back and see me when you want to do business. I have the circuitry lining and I'll be waiting.

No.



Here's the last guy to talk to on this screen.

That's a hell of a set of eye gear you're wearing. Even a shacker like you could have your eyes treated at an experimental clinic. Their success rates are over seventy percent these days.



Remember that Stark, as well, has Hopkins-Brie. Also remember that the only thing keeping him sane is his neural implant.

I have some idea.
I know I'm in Manhattan, but my mind often perceives things as if I'm in the network. The sky turns purple. Buildings pulse and melt into data clusters. Streets recede before me endlessly into the horizon. I stroll through the camps, and normal humans intermix with soul box effects.
I . . . know of the disease's effects. I wish I could help you.
Nothing can help me. I'm another used up and discarded cog from the TransTech machine. Worked there for years as a cyberspace presence surveying data cluster contours for unauthorized expansion. Everybody knows it's not healthy to interface with virtual reality for days at a time, but the Company doesn't care. Too expensive to hire three people for one job. Better for them to use us up one at a time, spread the costs over several quarters. When the mind goes, they shove you into the streets. I haven't much of value in this world, just a few chips I stole from the company when they fired me. I'd gladly give them to anyone who could ease my condition.

Since we've got those neural implant plans -- the only ones in the game -- we can talk to him again to help him.

I've got something that might help you.

If we left and came back, Sanders would start this second conversation with: "Do you know me, friend? If you are really there, please speak. My addled vision sees you as a cyberspace samurai. Are you for real?"

Help me? Hah! I'm sick and impoverished. I thought I was at least safe from con artists.
I don't know if you can see what I have here, but it's the design architecture for a neural implant. This should help you distinguish the real from the virtual.
And how does a freejack like yourself know about such a miracle machine?
Because I've got one, that's how. No questions asked, it's yours. I'm looking for a friend of mine, Deirdre Tackett's her name. Lives in the Greenwich Warrens. She's in trouble right now, but when I save her, she can install the implant for you. If I fail, I guess you'll have to take your chances with a back alley surgeon. Best I can do.
I . . . I didn't realize. . . You too had. . . I must repay you somehow. As I said earlier, I pocketed some chips when I left the Company. Sold most of them, but I want you to have the last of 'em: a four terabyte memory chip, a samurai soul box, and a dbase chip containing technical specs on over 300 lock mechanisms made by TransTech subsidiaries. Could be of use to someone like you.
I couldn't take these from you.
I insist. I'm not a charity case. You're giving my eyes back to me. I must repay you.

That lockpick database is required to complete the game, and it's the only one of its kind. Hopefully you kept those neural implant plans. That samurai soul box will go right into Stark's deck.



Hopefully Mary will be on this screen.



Sorry. Even with sugar, I can't stomach that bitter stuff.
All right, you don't have to drink with me, but I'm really hungry, and you look like you're packing a wallet. Maybe you'd buy this from me. It's a loaded data spider. Like, I wouldn't have a use for a data spider, but the guy I stole this from looked like you, looked like a merc. You want to buy it for 500 dollars? That would buy me a lot of food.

Why not. I've never used a data spider, but i'll try to get around to it this time.

Thanks, ace. I'm getting cleaned up and getting to a restaurant. I'll toast you with a glass of port.



Are you Mary?



Dignity? Is that what you call this? Pardon me, I thought it was mud and squalor.

I'm starting to really dislike Stark.

Anyone strong enough to live in poverty in this city has earned a degree of dignity. Since script and coins became scarce, the poor can't even beg for money. It's pretty difficult to drop a virtual dollar into a beggar's cup.
I wouldn't know.
Hunting for vampires, are you?
What makes you ask that?
You're a freelance. I can tell that at a glance. Don't deny it. You aren't the first to hunt here for supernatural bounty. I don't believe in vampires, but something deadly haunts our nights.

Let's keep looking.



You look old enough to be looking for a job instead of bothering strangers. How does a poor girl like you get fitted with cybernetics, anyhow?
You think I want these ugly things? A rage gang rampaged through the shanties over a year ago. I was almost killed by one of their bikes. My mother couldn't afford to take me to Bellevue. She had to rush me to a black market surgeon in the warrens, a psilo blossom addict. He put these painful things on me. Don't you dare think I'm a faker! You should give me at least a power cell to make up to me. Will you do that?

Sure. Why not.

This will make my mother happy. Be careful here. They find dead people almost every week. Everybody is frightened. Some say there are vampires in the camps.

I have a hunch that they're only around at night.



Mary is the one who's kneeling down.

Excuse me, Mother Mary, right? I was told I could find you here.



Don't be frightened. Brother Complicitus told me where I could find you.
Keep quiet. We can't discuss it now. Not here. Meet me at my church. We'll talk there. Meet me in the rear of St. Patrick's. Now go. Leave me.

Then she leaves.



There are two more people to talk to.



He certainly looks happy.

What are you, kid, about twelve years old? Beat it.
I ain't no kid. I'm a businessman. Take a look here. I bet you need one of these.
What is it?
It hooks up to your skin like this, see? The little writing says . . . dreamal flymen.
Dermal filament. Where'd you get it?
I got connections. I know every dumpster all over this city.
Smells like it.
You want this thing or not? Only 200 bucks.

Sure. We don't need this, but we want something else he sells only if you buy the dermal filament.

Smart man. You got an eye for quality. That's why I'm gonna let you see the good stuff. You got a pretty lady friend? I got some nice jewelry.
Like what?
This little pin I picked up at a real fancy part of town. I know a kid who works in a hotel kitchen. He lets me go through their trash. It's got a little picture of some kind of sword on it, see? Hundred bucks. Deal?

That's a lapel pin. It's a quest item. You can get them elsewhere, but this is cheaper.

You're O.K., mister.



Here's the last person to talk to.



Depends on what he's askin' for.
Just what every kid needs to grow up big and strong--red lifters.
If they want to grow up to be junkies.
Save it, mister. I'm here to talk business. If you can help old Dodger out and get him Lifters, I can trade you for somethin' I been savin'. Look here. It's part of a cyborg, man.
I know what it is. It's a Sheehy A-Series leg. What are you doin' with it?
I found it. During my rounds. Now, just think about it. If you're smart enough to rig this thing up on you, you'd be one ultra-techno stud. Little body work and this thing could look like it just rolled off the TransTech Personal CyberEnhancement assembly line. Real flash, ain't it? I'm giving it to you for practically nothin'. You interested in tradin' for red lifters?

No. I'm not giving drugs to kids.

What are you, my mother? Listen. My ma ain't been around since '91. And I like it that way. Sure don't need some greaseball low-rent merc actin' like my old lady.
Hey, cool down, kid.
Nobody could pass up that cyberleg. I was offerin' it to you for practically nothin'. Why'd you turn me down?
Hey, I don't deal. Especially to kids.

But I will mock the shit out of you for being homeless.

Oh, yeah, mister? What do you do, then?
Same as you. Try to stay alive in New York.
Well . . . if you ever need someone on your side who really knows this town, you let me know. In fact, I could pretty much free up my schedule right now if you were really in a jam. You need a smart guy like me?



Trust me, we want Dodger in our party. He comes with a Cyborg Head, Sheehy G leg, and a set of Jury Rig Tools.





His stats aren't very good except that he has the best Jury-Rig score in the game. If we want to build Elvis quick, we should get him. Even if we replace him with Elvis as soon as possible. Interestingly, if you don't choose all mercenary options when creating your Stark, Dodger will have better stats than you in pretty much every category. A 12 year old, homeless, drug addicted kid is better than Stark. There are also some interesting outcomes to Dodger's story, which I will show off in the next update.

Same drill as last time. Do we bring dodger into our party, and who will he replace?

Main Quests
Find the Lost Kids
-Get the TransTech list of Deirdre's associates for Chuck
Find a Holy Person
-Visit Mother Mary at St. Patrick's Cathedral
Kill Abraham Van Helsing
Visit the Red Crosse Knights in the north end of Manhattan

Side Quests
Leo Elvis needs a new pair of shoes body: get a leg, head, spark board, and jury rig tools
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
Non-violently steal a multi-channel transmitter from the Icon Robbers and bring it to Coover Tristan
Put the possession next to Cyril Thorpe in Cafe Voltaire
Get someone to vouch for us so we can talk to Lenora Major
-Talk to Lenora Major and say Kimba West sent us
Meet Zeus at NYU
Trade Sis Konfigg a Level Four Cloak for the WELL address of the New York Bank.
Get the right essence to get into well TTHEAT
Trade a Dragon Soul Box to Phree Taught for sleeping gas
Kill the TransTech security director for 10,000 dollars from Phracktle K. Oss.
Get Kimba West a fiber optic cable

New Location Gained
TransTech NanoTech Lab