Part 89: Episode LXXXVII: LA NoiRHa

Episode LXXXVII: LA NoiRHa


Music: Rays of Light (Quiet)



There are some problems even you cannot solve with hacking, 9S. Some mysteries are never meant to be solved in this life...





We’ve got one final side mission left to explore in the City Ruins. This one is began by returning to the only enterable structure in the entire area and climbing to the third floor (left side of the building facing out, it’s a real pain in the ass to find.) Here we come upon a female Resistance member peering out the window. What’s up, lady?



Hey, you’re with the Resistance, right? Are you okay?
Nnngh... You know that explosion that happened in the ruins? The shockwave hit me like... well, a shockwave, I guess. Knocked my circuits all out of whack, but I managed to— Wait a second... You look familiar—have we met before?
Me? No. But lots of YoRHa models look alike.
Oh... So, you two are with YoRHa, are you?
Um, yes? Why do you want to know?
No reason! I mean, I’ve just heard stories about how advanced you guys are, and how kind, and... Okay, fine. I need help.
Well, sure, I guess? What’s the problem?
What happened is, my friend who was with me on this mission was killed, and... I want to retrieve her final moments. This broken Pod was recording her life log. Think you can get it for me?
<Help her out.>
Thank you.



Final Route B sidequest of the City Ruins. We already helped out one Resistance member with faulty memories. Couldn’t hurt to do the same with another having a time. I think I can accept robots getting their memories scrambled from getting knocked around a touch easier than humans bashing their heads in with similar results.





Our first order of business is hacking this broken Pod. The first time I played this quest, the camera didn’t swing around to show me where the Pod was and it’s not particularly easy to see in this dimly lit structure. I definitely didn’t run around in circles for a couple minutes trying to get a plot flag to trigger. Just like it definitely didn’t take me ten minutes to find this lady the first time around...





After a fairly run of the mill Hackerman session, 9S manages to pull an image out of the Pod’s memory banks. Let’s take a look...



Yep... that sure is a Resistance member getting ganked. Not sure why the Pod decided to swing around behind the attacker for a dramatic view of the murder (which conveniently obscures the killer’s face) instead of hanging out behind her offering support. Maybe they’re not all made to be as reliable as 042 or 153.



I could be wrong, but it looked like two Resistance members fighting each other.
So my friend was killed by the Resistance? By one of her own!?
Easy. We haven’t finished fully restoring the data. It won’t be complete until we dig into a deeper layer and—
No. That’s enough. I don’t need to know any more. That person in the red hood killed my friend... And she’s going to pay for it!

The Resistance Member begins stomping away to enact her revenge. Lady, you sure we don’t wanna just wait a minute to narrow down the search by seeing who the killer actually was... How do you even know it’s a woman? That could be anyone’s butt in that photo.



What is it?
Where are you going?
To kill the bastard who murdered my friend!
Just slow down, all right? We need more data about what happened. Besides, it’s dangerous. The killer could be watching you right now for all we know.
Fine then. What do YOU think I should do?
Let me ask around the Resistance camp before you go running off. There can’t be that many people in red hoods, after all. Someone must know something.
All right. I can wait a little while. Hey, and... thanks.



Yeah, 9S you could go ask around camp to see if anybody has seen anyone in a red hood (assuming they haven’t changed their clothes in the weeks since the Engels explosion) or you could... just... you know... finish hacking that Pod and see the killer’s face...? No...? We’re not going to do that? We’ve got to go do the whole investigation before it inevitably turns out that the killer is (the quest giver, c’mon I figure that out within two seconds of seeing that picture and her reaction) dramatically revealed in a surprising twist?

Fiiiine... However, 2B is actually a bit chatty for a change in this mission and has something to say as we approach the camp.



Well. Aren’t we generous?
Hmm?
All this help for no personal gain? I know she’s pretty, but—
W-Whoa, whoa, whoa! It’s not like that! I mean, she IS pretty, but that’s... I-it’s not...
Whatever.


Music: Peaceful Sleep



9S, you eternal dweeb. Alright. Since we’re doing this the stupid way, we now need to scour the entire camp for someone with a red hooded cloak. Talking with folks yields no returns, they’ve all just got the same dialogue they’ve always possessed.



Thankfully, the Resistance Camp is a pretty tiny area and we quickly come upon a red cloaked Resistance member up on the scaffolding past Anemone’s base planning area. That woman has been up there since the very beginning of the game. Talking with her previously just resulted in her telling 2B or 9S to buzz off with their creepy eavesdropping on a private conversation. Gonna hazard a guess and say this is NOT our killer. But...



What, this? No, a girlfriend of mine gave it to me. This is the first time I’ve worn it in public. Do you really like it?
Yeah, it’s great. In fact, I wish I had one for myself. Do you happen to know where she got it?
No, sorry. I didn’t think to ask.
Do you know where your friend is? Maybe I’ll go ask her myself.
Man, you REALLY like this hood! Last I heard, she was out at the desert station. She shouldn’t be hard to find—I think she’s the only woman there.
Thanks. I appreciate it.
Hope you manage to get a hood of your own!

Hmm... A female Resistance member out in the desert camp, huh? I think we might have met her before... she might have been blowing up stuff or accidentally starting an android opioids epidemic. 9S and 2B have another chat before we head out there...



Gifts are such a useless ritual.
Wow, okay. Where’d THAT come from?
It’s rude to give a person something without their permission. What if they don’t want it?
Hmm. I think it’s more about the feeling behind it than the actual item, right?
Feelings are prohibited.
Yeah, yeah.
One affirmation will suffice.
Oh, for the love of... Fine. “Yeah.”



There’s a few things that make me suspect this quest was written early on in development and never really got another pass as the main plot stuff was locked down. Particularly, 2B acting like way more of a stick up her ass jerk than she ever really is past the Prologue. There’s another bit we’ll get to shortly that is really oddly written and is absolutely just something they never went back and fixed.

In any case, off to the Desert Camp we go...


Music: Memories of Dust (Quiet)



Stay alert. She could be our killer.
But there’s only one female resistance member at the desert station...



Let’s ask that guy over there.

OK. Let’s go gab with the camp merchant to see if he’s seen Jackass.



Oh, you must mean Jackass, huh? Every time there’s an issue, ol’ Jackass tries to solve it with explosives or some other violent method. I think she’s off doing geological research in one of the desert caves. I’ll send you the coordinates if you want. Oh, but if you’re gonna head out there— Just make sure you don’t get caught up in one of her explosions, you hear?







The desert caves. We’ve been there before. It’s that overhead perspective network of tunnels where we picked up a weapon for 9S early in Route B. There’s a cave in the side of the rocky ridges that we can enter to drop into the center of the caves.





From here, we have to head northeast...ish until we reach a dead end on the outside where we find Jackass hanging out. This the other really odd bit of writing in this quest because our YoRHa androids and Jackass both act like they’ve never met each other before.



Who wants to know?
We’re with YoRHa. We’re conducting a field investigation.
Well, yippee for you.
Listen, did you happen to give a red hood to a friend earlier? That red is perfect for our new YoRHa colors, so we were hoping to—
That old piece of crap? Yeah, I gave it to her. Hell, I never wanted it in the first place.
Er, so it came from someone else originally?
Did I stutter? Yeah, it came from someone else. I bought the stupid thing after the explosion in the city ruins. Some Resistance lady with red hair practically tackled me trying to get me to buy it. I only did it to get her off my case. Well, and because I thought it might look good on my friend... But if you tell her that, you’re dead!
A red-haired Resistance member...
The same color as our client’s hair.
What client? What the hell’s going on here?
Uh, nothing! It’s just... that’s her nickname. “The Client.”
That’s even stupider than Jackass! That lady WAS pretty creepy, though. Kept grinning at me like a crazy person.
Grinning...? Uh, well, thanks for your help. We’ll be on our way.

I can’t believe the killer is the person who gave us the quest. Either that or Devola and Popola have become serial killers. If only there were a way to know... Like finishing hacking that Pod to get all the information or something sensible like that. Alas...



But if it’s the same person, why would she have had the killer’s hood?
Hypothesis: The red-haired Resistance member is either the killer or an accomplice.
Let’s go talk to her.




Music: Rays of Light (Quiet)



All the way back to where we started we go. The killer’s identity might not be particularly surprisingly. But hopefully there is a decent explanation as to why we were sent on this wild goose chase.



Not... exactly. But we DID learn that you sold the hood to someone.
Wha!?
Apparently a red-haired Resistance member sold the hood after the explosion in the ruins.
This doesn’t make sense...
We’re starting to believe you had something to do with the murder.
But that’s impossible! I don’t know about any of that...
Listen, if you—
Look, you said there were still some records left in this Pod, right? Then we have to look at them right now!
Think about this for a second. I want you to understand what you’re asking. You may have killed your own friend. I don’t know why or how, but it’s possible.
I don’t care. I have to know the truth. Please!
...All right. I’m heading in.







Boy, it’s like we could have saved everyone a lot of time and effort if we’d just not half-assed the first hacking job. This is all your fault, 9S. What did you unlock the first .jpeg in a folder you found and called it a day last time? Idiot.





And there we have it. The killer was the Red-Haired Quest Giver in the Ruined Building with the Hanzo Steel. It was nice of that Pod to get a good Dutch angle shot of the killer’s face while she stands menacingly over her freshly slain victim. Real professional, those Pods, up until the bitter end.

Music: ENDS



I... I’m a Type-E... A YoRHa Type-E...
YoRHa?
My function is to seek out and execute deserters and traitors. I disguise myself so I can approach my targets and kill without warning. But one day, I was ordered to kill my friend. So I did. I had my orders, and I followed them.
......
It was hard. So hard. And after a while, I couldn’t live with what I had done.
So you erased your own memories.
Yes. But... this wasn’t the first time.


Music: Mourning (Choir)



Hee. Eee hee hee hee hee.
Um, are you all right?
Yes. I am “all right.” Everything is “all right.” I am a YoRHa Type-E. E for “Execution.” I follow orders. I kill my friends. Eee hee hee. And you solved it! Solved the murder! Eee hee! Now I have to pay you! Eee hee hee!
Wait, you don’t—
Eee hee hee! Do you need a friend killed? A lover? It’s my job! My job! Hee! My job! Hee hee! My j-job my j-j-job my-y-y-yyyyy jjjooooeeeheeheeeeeeee...
...Let’s go.



Welp... that was not the murder revelation motives I was expecting... Instead of taking her up on the offer of murdering a friend or the like (sadly we cannot sic her on say... Jean-Paul) we just get a decent sidequest payout. That Offensive Heal chip is better than the one we’ve currently got. So that’s nice.





Additionally, this quest rewards us with the A090: Wire Pod Program. This is an odd one... It fires off a... well, a wire that is used as a sort of grappling hook to quickly yank the android utilizing it to the targeted enemy. It doesn’t do any damage. It’s strictly movement tech. It also has zero cooldown and is the only Pod Program that has no benefit from charging up. This can be useful against aerial enemies who back up quickly when approached and there may be a late game ability that can be coupled with this for pretty decent effect.

However, given how most enemies rush up to 2B and 9S for attack and the large distance covered by evading as well as the fact that YoRHa androids just haul ass everywhere in general, I never really found a big use for this one. I’d prefer something that dealt damage at range or maybe just damage in general.



Regardless, that concludes the Amnesia quest. You guys aren’t going to notify command about this deadly stealth Executioner android that is clearly losing her shit out in the field and could really use a psyche evaluation...? No? I’m starting to think YoRHa might not actually have a HR department or... any kind of real oversight at all...

2B and 9S have one last conversation after we leave the Type-E android to cackle in the dark.



Type-E... I didn’t know there was such a thing. Did you, 2B?
......
Some things are better left unknown.
...Yeah. I suppose so.

So let’s take that as a “yes.” 2B does know about there being E-Series androids. Hell, we’ve seen one already.



...In the very first seconds of the game, in fact. 7E was one of the units in the ill-fated mission to the Abandoned Factory in the prologue. She got blasted by Engels shortly after YoRHa’s flight units descended past cloud cover. Now what would an android whose role is covertly killing traitors and deserters be doing on an assault mission like this?



If you’ll remember, there was an early sidequest which involved returning to the Abandoned Factory for the first of 18 times in order to find a moment from the presumably KIA 11B. It turned out 11B was planning to desert YoRHa by faking her death and running off during that mission. It stands to reason her escape was discovered beforehand and 7E was there to gank her if she tried to go AWOL. I feel like mid-mission with a high chance of failure isn't a great time to be pulling that kind of shit. But it's never stopped the Umbrellas, Patriots and other shadowy militaristic organizations from trying in the past. Why stop a few millennia in the future...?



Perhaps we should maybe just remember this sidequest for future reference. In any case, that concludes all the quests left in the City Ruins. All that remain are a couple more with Pascal’s Village before we head into the Forest Zone for... well there’s a couple sidequests there too... but also some plot progression, as NieR: Automata continues!






Video: Episode 87 Highlight Reel





Resistance Member Concept Art – Androids couldn’t decide on boxers or briefs so they split the difference.