Part 127: Episode CXXII: The Trouble With Twins

Episode CXXII: The Trouble with Twins



Wise men choose death before war, wiser men choose not to be born. Angelus had the right idea way back in the beginning of Drakengard 1. The only winning move for a Yoko Taro character is never to have been created in the first place. With said, let’s go check on a couple of characters who chose to come back for a second round after having their lives ruined and being brutally killed the first go...


Music: Peaceful Sleep



Devola and Popola have the final handful of sidequests available in Route C. This is one of the few questlines that exist for both A2 and 9S. Although, there’s a lot less reason for A2 to engage with them. So that’s why we’re opting to do this with 9S. The quests are identical, there’s just slightly different dialogue depending on who undertakes it (just rephrase everything in a pissier tone and you’ve got A2’s version.) Anyway, let’s see what the twins need our help with...



Devola, please.
Well, what else can we do? Ever since that huge-ass Tower showed up, we’ve been short on people and supplies. If we keep getting distracted by the little things, we’ll never get those Resistance members repaired.
That’s true, but—
So there you have it! Anyway, mind lending us a hand?
<Help the twins.>
Great! Much appreciated. Okay, so all we need are some stripped screws, small gears and machine oil. You can get stripped screws from the machines that look like they’ve been stacked on top of each other. I think you can get small gears from the small machines with the short legs. You should be able to find some machine oil near a deserted truck at the abandoned factory.
Please don’t put yourself in danger for this, all right?



So begins the Devola’s Request sidequest. Aaaaaaand... we’re done with it. We’ve got like over a dozen of all those items sitting in our inventory already from just regularly killing common machines. They’re not exactly the rarest drops. So let’s just turn this junk in straight away.



Then it’s time for us to get to work, Devola.
Er, what are you using that stuff for, anyway?
Isn’t it obvious? Daily necessities.
We’re often asked to handle various odd jobs around the camp.
Odd jobs? With all of your technical skills?
Oh, it’s no bother! We’re happy to help however we can.
Frankly, we’re thankful to just have a job of any kind. Anyway, enough gabbing. Here’s your reward.
Oh, I couldn’t possibly take this much.
Just take it already! It’s not like we have anything to spend it on.
Go on. You earned it.
Maybe you’ll agree to help us again later?



We do indeed get quite a bit of a reward. The Fresh Water and Mushrooms are both harvest point RNG dependent drops for upgrading Pods and cannot be bought anywhere. So that’s nice. Just need double that to upgrade Pod C to its second level...



In any case, that conclude Devola’s Request. And as you can see if you look behind the quest completion overlay, another quest immediately pops up with the twins in its place. Well, we’re already here, so...



I’d love to sit here and chat, but we need to head out and take care of a job. Things are a little crazy around here at the moment. I need to get these materials post-haste and...
Hey, Sis? Just ask already.
You want me to get the materials for you?
Oh, we couldn’t possibly ask!
<Agree to secure the materials.> <Ignore the hint.>
Thanks. This is a HUGE help.
Devola, we can’t keep asking people to—
Yes we CAN, Sis! Let’s just be grateful for the help. Anyway, I just need you to track down some desert roses. It’s a pretty rare plant, but I’d start by searching around the old ruins in the desert.
Sorry to put you through this. And please be careful! Some of the desert enemies are quite strong.





Now we have Popola’s Errand to contend with and the acquisition of five Desert Roses. We actually already have two in our inventory I’d been saving for this quest. One was a random rare drop out in the desert somewhere. The other is from way back when 2B got a flower picture to send to Operator 6O. RIP.



Now, five Desert Roses will spawn in the designated area over by the marked position on the map but, well... it’s best to have a couple spares. You’ll see when we get there.


Music: Memories of Dust (Quiet)





The marked area on the map is easy to forget about. It’s the narrow canyon route 2B and 9S used to escape from Adam and Eve’s birth and that whole mess of collapsing ruins.



Finding one in a place like this won’t be easy. Why are those two engaged in such dangerous work anyway?



So if you’ll remember, this canyon is home to a quicksand river that leads into a bottomless canyon. Of the five Desert Roses that spawn here, only three of them are static drops.



Two of ‘em are dropped from destroying machines in the area. One of those machines is one of those jerk ass flying electric worm deals. It’s VERY easy to accidentally destroy that and have its Desert Rose drop bounce down into the abyss, never to be seen again. If that happens and you don’t have spares in your inventory... guess it’s time to reload your game or else it’s up to farming a 10% appearance rate harvest point in the ass end of the Desert Zone if you want to clear this quest.



The game doesn’t make it clear in any way you done goofed and lost one of these Desert Rose spawns if it falls into the abyss. So that could go real rotten! Hence why I’d been holding onto a couple spares this whole time, despite the fact their item description is the same as all other completely useless vendor trash that suggests you sell it for G. Literally no other vendor trash with the “Sells for a large amount of G!” message at the end has this kinda “wait, actually...”

Cavia would be proud.



Anyway, job’s done. Let’s head back to the Resistance Camp and turn in our findings. Any further located Desert Roses are official vendor trash after this point.


Music: Peaceful Sleep (Vocal)



I know this wasn’t easy. Thank you.



For our efforts, we receive another sizable bounty of rare/expensive upgrade materials. However, the quest doesn’t actually complete just yet. As soon as 9S is out of earshot from the twins, he has some questions about their errands...



Hypothesis: Continued difficult assignments will eventually have a deleterious effect on the entire organization.
Hmm. Maybe I should talk this over with Anemone.

Alright, then. Let’s go hit up the Resistance leader to figure out why the twins are getting all the camp’s garbage assignments.



Ah, I see. This is about Devola and Popola. I understand how unfair it must seem for them to keep getting our most difficult and dangerous assignments. But I'm afraid that’s going to continue for a while. The others here... Well, they still haven’t forgiven them.
I don’t understand. Forgiven them for what?
That...
......
That’s something you should ask them directly.



And with that non-answer, Popola’s Errand is completed. We’re not done here yet. There is one final quest left to be given by the twins. No sense in stopping now.



However! If you’re gonna be a completionist and do all the sidequests... Specifically, that machine intel completion quest pain in the ass the previous update... I might suggest going to a vendor and dumping all but four units of the Tree Sap upgrade material. More can be bought from the machine vendor in the Amusement Park. He’s still active despite the cyber-zombie apocalypse over there. So it’s not a big deal if we need more. You’ll see why in a bit.

Let’s go speak with the Twins again...



We need some tree sap to repair a tent, but there are some super strong enemies guarding it. We can’t even dent the things with the flimsy little weapons we have, so maybe you can—
Hey, Devola? Why do you two keep getting all these incredibly dangerous odd jobs? If fighting is involved, there are plenty of androids more suited for the task.
I...
......
I’m sorry... We really should be handling our own tasks.
Devola...
<Help the twins out.>
No! It’s not that! Honestly, I’m happy to help you guys if you need it. I’m YoRHa, remember? I’m way more suited to this line of work than you are anyway. What was it you needed again? Tree sap?
That’s okay. We’ll handle this one ourselves.
Devola, I think we should accept the assistance.
Come on, Sis! We can’t keep—
Thank you. You have no idea how much this helps.



So begins The Twins’ Request. Now, we had more than enough Tree Sap to immediately complete this quest. We’d just have to leave the area and return to turn it in. But, we’d miss a whole thing if we did that. As soon as 9S walks away from the twins...



Pod, search for regions where I might be able to obtain tree sap.
Search already performed. Regions rich in tree sap marked on map.



Huh... Who’d a thunk the Forest Zone would be full of Tree Sap drops. Crazy... Let’s head right on over there!




Music: Rays of Light



So... something seems off in this region already... Unless there’s a third murder hobo android that has a vendetta against animals we’ve yet to see, it seems there’s a rude machine in the area. And it seems to be hanging out over by the nearby pond. Let’s mosey on over and see who is messing with nature.



The ones Devola mentioned, maybe? What’s with the crazy shape?



Doing this quest the proper way and not immediately turning it in with stored supplies results in a guaranteed spawn of a unique machine and an extra percentage of that increasingly scarce Unit Data... as soon as we scrap it, at least. Meet the Monster Type Machine. It seems one of the Reverse Joint Biped machines finally looked up what a dinosaur looks like and modified itself appropriately. But this isn’t just any dinosaur. It’s Mecha Godzilla!



This machine actually has unique attacks. At close range, Truckasaurus here can breathe fire. But that’s just a warm up to its unique primary attack...



Just a straight up Godzilla laser breath, complete with glowing dorsal fin energy charge up and anime explosion following the laser. I still need to watch Shin Godzilla sometime...





Covering the Monster Type’s rampage is a whole mess of electric worm jerks descending from the waterfall above. Unfortunately, there’s no monster dueling going on here. 9S needs to sort out all of these machines if he wants that tree sap.







If you’ve ever wondered how many Hackerman sessions it would take for 9S to own Mecha Godzilla, the answer is three. Monster Type just happens to be carrying some Tree Sap. So we can scoop that up and complete our collection promptly. Otherwise, there’s four other guaranteed drops around this pond and waterfall.



Back to the Resistance Camp we go one last time. If you’re wondering, it is possible to encounter the Monster Type Machine outside of this quest. There is a roughly 5% chance of it spawning in this same area during Route C. So have fun reloading this save point for like an hour if you happened to skip ahead in this quest and really want that 100% completion of sidequests... even though the Trophy/Achievement only requires 85% total to unlock and nobody but you will know or care.


Music: Peaceful Sleep



We return to the Twins, this time with Devola holding an entire glass pitcher in her hand with some obvious implications what she was drinking out of it... So, Popola... We got your sap...



Thank you. I know this must have been difficult.
Is Devola... sleeping?
She was drinking. I think she finally passed out. She’s been trying to cut back, but with things as rough as they are... Well, everyone needs a release, I suppose.
As rough as they are?
It’s not easy being a defective model, you know? In the past, a pair of models identical to ours caused a major incident.

Music: ENDS



Popola! POPOLAAAAA! My glassh ain’t getting any fuller over here!
Tee hee! Oh, Devola... She does love that particular spirit. She makes it with desert rose, actually. You’re welcome to try some if you like.
Huh? Whuzza? NO! Keep yer goddamn handsh off my BOOZE! It’s MINE! Mine. I’m gonna... drink it all up! Mee-YOW!
...Meow?
Heh. She can say some pretty odd things in her sleep.
Aren’t you going to drink anything?
Oh, maybe next time. When I drink... Well, it’s not always a good thing. Let’s leave it at that. Anyway, thank you again. You should take a bit of time to rest if you can.
It’sh... not our fault... Zzzzz...





In addition to some more rare upgrade materials, we get a sample of Popola’s Booze which is a 50% buff to physical attacks for 30 seconds in addition to a full heal. At the cost of... well...


Video: Drunk 9S

Getting 9S shitfaced. I dunno, humans... Maybe if you didn’t give your robotic caretakers the ability to get drunk on liquor and high on narcotics, you’d still be around... Or at least made it a couple more apocalypses before being wiped out...



Popola will provide us with another helping of her booze if we ever come back after downing a bottle. Devola will also randomly be drunk if we pass by camp too. So that’s fun. Our generosity helping a couple of down on their luck androids has caused one of them to fall off the wagon and sink back into alcoholism. Drakenier!



Despite that, we’ve now done 97% of sidequests in NieR: Automata. That’s all in Route C we’re capable of doing right now. There’s one other sidequest we’ve yet to touch. But that is for the post-game as it involves Level 99 Super Bosses and getting all of our weapons to max upgrade. We'll cross that bridge in the future. Tune in next time as we take a final couple detours before being mainlining of the rest of the main plot missions as NieR: Automata’s conclusion looms in the distance.






Video: Episode 122 Highlight Reel





Devola and Popola Concept Art – Establishing Devola’s sports bra was very important to the creation of final design.