Part 78: Episode LXXVI: Party Pooper

Episode LXXVI: Party Pooper



Our march forward through 9S’s replay of the game continues. Chapter 3 and our time in the desert yielded little in differences compared to 2B’s exploits. Perhaps the Amusement Park will yield more fruitful results. We just need to get a mission to head on over there first. Which means we need to lead 9S back toward the City Ruins and...


Music: Rays of Light (Quiet)



Say, 2B? I was hoping we could talk about our next move. I’m worried about the damage we took in that last battle with the machines. Maybe we should return to the Resistance camp to resupply and conduct maintenance?
No. We should keep fighting.
Roger that. Just try not to overdo it, okay?

Originally, we agreed with 9S being a wiener cautious moving forward. There’s nothing we need back in the Resistance Camp this go around, so screw making that jog across town. Doing this just skips talking to Anemone and getting that useless room we’ll never sleep in. Instead, it immediately triggers the next mission assignment communication.



Roger.
I also have an incoming message from the Commander.



Their black boxes are online, so we presume they’re still alive or enthralled in a waking nightmare devised by the machines. We’ve tracked the location of their signals, so I need all YoRHa units on the surface to head over and investigate. Unfortunately, other local YoRHa units have reported to have gotten lost in the desert, have become incapacitated due to some manner of machine devised narcotic, or have gone into a ceaseless stand-bye loop insisting “just one more song.” So this tasks falls to you, 2B and 9S.
End of transmission. <disconnects>
I heard something about that back at the Resistance Camp.
Really... When? I was with you the entire time and didn’t hear anything.
That says more about you than my acquired intel.
...Harsh. But I’m worried about the other androids... Especially after that pile of corpses in the desert. Crud... we probably should have reported that in, huh?
Too late now. Let’s go.
Yeah, yeah...



Onward to the sewer and the Amusement Park zone. Thankfully, I won’t get stuck for nearly an hour trying to fish a lead pipe an angry dad found in a super market several millennia ago.





As soon as we set foot near the City Ruins proper, Pod 153 chimes in with a pair of email notifications. There’s a couple of Access Points vaguely on the way to our destination. Let’s do a quick bit of web browsing.



What if there’s a problem and we’re unable to respond? Have you thought of that conundrum? What if 9S had found himself cornered by a horde of machines and also somehow only had access to dial-up internet connections? What then, 21O? What then...?



YoRHa budgetary concerns axed the Spam Folder from electronic mail communications. It’s mostly been fine other than the occasional mail like this or the one from a machine claiming to be a deposed prince of a former human country called Nigeria offering vast sums of G dividends for a dubious plug-in chip donation to his location.





Email exploits sorted out, it’s a quick trek across town and into the sewers. Sadly, moose fear to tread areas where raw sewage once flowed. That’s why they’re still around and sheep are extinct.

Music: ENDS





Those machines out in the desert looked just like androids, right?
Lacking in a few areas, but sure.
But we androids were modeled after our human creators. Why would machines want to look like us?
Have you ever seen pictures of the aliens? No thanks.
Huh... I guess that’s a point.
......
Hey, do you think that’s why they didn’t have... you know... Lower plumbing?
Moving to mission target area.
R-Right...





There’s nothing eventful ever going on in NieR: Automata’s sewers and we can all be thankful for that. However, as we’re climbing out...

































Control has been assigned to 2B.
This is Tactical Support Unit Pod 153. Control has been assigned to 9S.
Combat data exchange requested.
Exchange accepted.
Proposal: Data should be exchanged regularly for greater efficiency.
Proposal accepted. Data will be exchanged regularly for greater efficiency.
End communication.


































OK. So the Pods set up a Discord server and are likely talking to each other behind our androids’ backs. That’s probably fine. It’s just efficiency in exchange of data. Nothing to concern ourselves with ever again, surely.



Now then, as we approach the Amusement Park proper, in the place where we previously got the area’s title card, we now get—



































They were found by the machines.



The machines called them “treasures.”



Each treasure had a different shape. Each treasure had a different...



...shape.



































Sorry, no novella to go along with that story book. But this one doesn’t need supplementary material to clarify. We’ll be learning what the heck it was talking about by the end of this chapter. So let’s continue onward...


Music: Amusement Park (Vocal)



Oh, wHat fUN! Oh, whaT FUn!
What the...
Well, this is weird. I mean, not as weird as what we saw in the desert. But definitely still in the range of weirdness.
You don’t say.
bAlloonS aNd baNAnas arE alL the raGE!



You know, since all of these Amusement Park fellas are neutral towards 9S, he’s free to hack them without impunity. Let’s get in on that fun time. Why should the machines hog it all...?


New Music: Amusement Park (Chiptune) (You should listen to this.)





This definitely isn’t an excuse just to post the Chiptune version of the Amusement Park theme that there’s really no reason to ever hear normally outside of one sidequest a while from now. No, we’re gonna have some fun, dammit... See, check it out:



Fun!



FUN!



FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUN! Mandatory happiness for ALL!




Music: Amusement Park (Quiet)







Ahem... Now that we’ve gotten that out of our system, let’s continue with our mission. The front gate to the castle is once more locked and it is simply beyond the androids’ abilities to climb, break it open or otherwise circumvent the might of a ten foot tall iron gate. As such, we’ll need to swing around back like in 2B’s adventure.



As soon as we reach this area, 9S receives another mail notification from his Pod. We don’t want our inbox getting jammed up with backlog. So let’s take a look and Quick Save before we continue.



I’m getting the feeling 21O might be bored but is too cool to get into flower pictures and illustrations of bunnies like a certain other Operator we’ve dealt with in the past. Technically, this email triggers a sidequest involving 21O. But that involves returning to the Bunker and the only transporter with that function at the moment is the Resistance Camp Access Point. So she’ll just have to wait for now.





We once more need to do some platforming on this wrecked carnival ride in order to continue further into the area, as there’s another fence that proves too much for even a mighty android double-jump. However, before we make our way over there... we’ve got another hacking chest with some lore. Let’s take a look at a Tattered Pamphlet.



Hold up... Why are we not visiting the world-famous Hot Dog Museum right fucking now?! I mean if it boasts the largest collection of wieners anywhere in the world, 9S should feel right at home.



Let’s stuff that pamphlet in our digital pocket and continue onward. Pay no attention to 2B phasing into existence. Her AI had a hell of a time traversing these simple jumps. As in, she didn’t even try and just face planted every step of the way and warped to 9S’s position constantly. Which is weird because 9S’s AI version was perfectly able to _mostly keep up earlier. Must be all that extra rear baggage.



Let’s sing! Let’s sing!
Let’s play! Let’s play!

Following that small platforming challenge, we find ourselves back in the courtyard of the Party Tank. Even after all this time, it’s still having a hoot and spreading cheer. However...



We’ll regret it later if we let them escape, so let’s take ‘em out!



2B knew well enough to leave the Party Tank in peace and let those goofy machine boys have a fun time. They weren’t hurting anyone. However, now that 9S is in charge of this shindig... he simply cannot abide reckless partying behavior. They’re causing a ruckus. There’s going to be noise complaints from the neighbors. They’ve simply got to go!



By the way, here’s something that’s not immediately obvious. On all machine lifeform tanks, Party or otherwise, there’s an action prompt if our character jumps on top of the tank.





Jamming the action button will cause 2B or 9S to tank open a hatch atop the tank and reveal the machine’s glowing weak point core. Like other glowing yellow orbs we’ve seen on enemies, this is incredibly vulnerable and attacking it with say... a Level 3 Charge Pod Program will deal massive amounts of damage.


Music: The Sound of the End (Instrumental)



Naturally, the Party Tank won’t appreciate this one bit and a mid-boss fight will initialize.





Gone are all the festive balloons and confetti. Replacing it are energy orbs and MORE energy orbs. All partying has ceased. There is only endless war. Thanks a lot, 9S.



Being on more stable terrain, this tank can show off one additional move the Golden Tank back in the Desert couldn’t muster: it can configure its treads into a makeshift arm and take a big swing at androids. That’s it... I mean, it’s more than most tanks can normally do, but it isn’t exactly effective.



If 2B had decided to be a real jerk in the initial run, the Party Tank could prove to be a rather formidable foe for her since it has a good ten levels on her at that point and her plug-in chip configuration is likely to be kinda trash at that point.





Also, she lacks 9S’s nearly broken hacking abilities, which all but trivializes all fights this encounter. It looks like your party has been canceled, tank. The YoRHa Fun Police have arrived and they don’t take prisoners.


Music: Amusement Park (Quiet)



Analysis: It is a core fragment from the machine lifeform. It is similar in structure to a plant cell.
A plant cell?



Since we didn’t destroy the Party Tank earlier, we never got this brief conversation explaining machine cores. Turns out the machines technically have some organic components in their cores. I mean, they’re called machine lifeforms (or bio-machines in Japanese.) It was right there the whole time.

Also, you’ll note I’ve been hording these things. Their value has gone up from 11k a pop to 15k in Route B. By the end of the game, that’ll go up to 22k. So that’ll be nice to cash in eventually for an early retirement fund.



Before we press onward, there’s another locked chest for 9S to hack and obtain some additional Intel Archives. This one contains a Filthy Lottery Ticket. Let’s examine it closer...



I’m glad this ticket was preserved for countless years to remind future generations that the lottery is a stupid waste of money.





Once again, our only route into the Amusement Park castle is to stand atop the roller coaster and go for a ride. I know that pamphlet said this was the first roller coaster with NO SEAT BELTS and all. But I still don’t think this is the intended way to ride this, guys...


Music: Amusement Park (Medium)



Yes?
People who know me well usually call me “Nines,” sooo...
Oh.
So what do you think?
Of?
I mean, if you want to call me Nines, it’s totally okay.
.....
I’m good.
Oh. Um... all right. I mean, I wouldn’t mind if you did. That’d be cool.
You said people who know you well called you that, yes?
Yeah, that’s right.
Then I wouldn’t be qualified.
Oh... Ha... Right.
Enemies!





Do you think when 9S initially started trying to force a nickname, he went with “Ninez”? He totally did. If not, that’s almost certainly his YoRHa instant messenger handle. That fucking dweeb...



In any case, tune in next time for a second rumble with the Mad Songstress Simone and perhaps some more context to that brief shot of her hanging out with Jean-Paul just before she died, as NieR: Automata continues!






Video: Episode 76 Highlight Reel





Pod Transformation Concept Art – You think there’s a module to stuff a spare sandwich in a Pod...? That'd be rad.