Part 38: Episode 37: Itchy // Tasty

Hey, thread. How ya been? I apologize for the lack of updates again. I've had family stuff to deal with this past week ( _{and the Old Republic} ), so I've been pretty busy.

Allow me to make it up to you with the best writing in the game.




Last time, Aya got herself a swag new gun and reached the second level of the Shelter. Still no closer to any answers, but let's see if we can't change that.


We'll start by checking out the two door closest to where we came in.


Oh, this isn't a door at all.


"ARK", eh? Well, Biblical references in secret biological laboratories never end poorly, so let's see what's down there!


Elevator's busted. Oh well, I'm sure this "ARK" isn't anything important.


Next up...


gross

Some mood music


Unfortunately, the doors to the Breeding Room are unlocked, so in we go.


On the upside, we have this my favorite bit of flavor text in the whole game. Also, probably the longest.



: "When I arrived at the lab today, the chimps were unusually agitated."


Maybe the chimps were pissed that you were naming them things like "Sheez"

: "She was smart and got along well w/ other chimps and me. Still it was all I could do to examine the corpse."











Oh, hey, Bowman. Remember him? The completely crazy guy who left dead skin on his mattress?

: "His vacant stare has graced our labs a few times in the past. He stares at me sometimes. I find I have no liking for the man."



: "He sidled over to Sheez's cage, and when he got close it was like he was possessed, swearing and muttering over her. I asked that the experiments be stopped, but he wouldn't listen."




"We've successfully killed a chimp! Hooray for science!"




: "Feb. 24. Bowman is stepping up testing. He's spending nights at the lab."


Of course it is.

: "He was on a project investigating artificial human races. I was denied transfer to a military lab; my research is on hold."



: "I am thankful to the organization for saving a refugee like myself, but I cannot condone this research."


"I never asked for this."

: "Mar. 8. Today another test subject arrived in a heavily damaged cage."



: "The artificial soldier who brought him, No.9, explained joyfully."


You're not a real mad scientist until you perform experiments on yourself.

: "He would become a new species: an ANMC. Yet something had grown inside him, twisting his face with pain."

: "Mar. 14. My worry for the ANMC that was Bowman deepens daily. We gave him an artificial organ and bone transplant just yesterday, yet he feels no pain. He circles his cage, swearing foully."





: "I am nauseated. I will leave early today."



: "Bowman is quiet today; he seems to be in great pain. He whines that it is cold; he wants to be near the heater. When I refuse, he screams, disturbing the chimps."









: "Too bad -- she was nice. The big guy probably crawled off and died, but 9 keeps looking. With that thing gone, we stuffed the new ANMCs in the big west cage."


man, sociopaths get all the easy jobs




Well, that was enlightening. Now we know what happened to Bowman, and we know for certain that this place is Umbrella levels of EEEEVIL. Finally, mitochondria gets a name drop because this is a Parasite Eve game, come on.


Oh, are you tired of reading flavor text? Well, buckle up because this room is loaded with the stuff.

: There's no sense turning it on, I don't know the password. Could this be a video record of activity in the cages? I can't believe the researchers would leave all the animals behind.

These guys are willing to turn themselves into inhuman abominations and eat each other, but you can't believe they'd be mean to animals?


By the way, this room is pretty big.



: Euhh... A dead chimpanzee.


Those monsters must have forced this chimp to play The 3rd Birthday! How vile!


I bet it's gross.

: A rhesus monkey... But something's wrong. It's salivating globs of fluid... It's eating something ravenously...


Called it.

: It's already finished a few. This is one troubled monkey. I've seen enough.



: What are those? Swarms of squirming white shapes...


That is the least disturbing direction that could have gone.

: They're moving strangely, shaking their heads in a frenzy.



: Rats! They're bunched in a corner, chewing... They...they're eating each other! Their eyes are pink and bleeding.


Okay, can we please leave this horrible, horrible place now?


There's a box of handgun bullets here, but who gives a fuck because it is shotgun time for the rest of the game!


Also, a closet full of cat food.


On this side of the room, we find cages for much larger specimens. Person sized specimens...


And more animal chow.

: Cans of powered milk, cheese... A variety of basic ingredients. This must be lab animal feed.


I wonder what's in these cages


oh god worms


Do you remember those Caterpies that attacked us waaay back at the Akropolis Tower? Well, these over-sized Maggots are just a palette swap of them. No new attacks or anything notable, just a slight buff in HP and damage.


The only thing to watch for with these guys is their lunge attack. Luckily, they telegraph the leap by rearing up, so its easy to see coming and dodge. After that, just introduce them to good old Mr. Shotgun.


The last worm in the bunch is chilling out in the second cage. We mop up and then take a closer look around the cell that presumably held Bowman.



: It's coming from that garbage pile... What was in here?


Nor should you.


Man, look at this joint.

: Food scattered everywhere. Creatures probably had a feast.


The fact that this is kept right next to where they prepare the food for the animals is really...Actually, considering the rest of this place, that makes perfect sense.


I thought there was a thing on the wall here. There wasn't.

At this point, I had to head back upstairs to screen cap Bowman's final words in the dormitory. Along the way, I decided to give HQ a call and ask that same old question:






Thanks, Boss. It's not like we stumbled onto anything big or important down here. You just go ahead and send all our resources to that hotel thing. We got this.