Part 44: Episode 43: They Got Lost

Last time on Parasite Eve 2, we obtained a fancy new super gun and promptly forgot what the fuck we were supposed to be doing. This time, we go do that thing what we was s'posed to do.


So, what we're meant to be doing is tracking down the creature that once was Bowman because we need an ID card to get any further in the labs. Given the re-population of Hot Zones in the Shelter, the game pretty clearly expects you to retrace your steps to find him, racking up plenty of extra BP and EXP. Let's do just that!


The doors to the sterilization chamber have gained a bit of extra text since they tried to murder us.


Luckily, the entire system is dead now, so we don't have to take any repeat trips to the trash compactor.


I have the knowledge of previous playthroughs, so I know exactly where the Former Dr. Bowman is hanging out, and cutting through the Sleeping Quarters is the fastest way to reach him.


The Sleeping Quarters is now home to around nine Blobs. In this screen shot, you see me assuming I had Firefly rounds loaded, when I did not. Blobs normally resist all physical damage, but the Fire effect on Firefly rounds make them do normal damage, letting me save some MP. The Pike Flamethrower would work just as well.


Here, I am using Firefly rounds. You'll also notice that this Blob is red. Red Blobs are among the most annoying enemies in the game. They have the same high defense and resistance to physical damage as Blue Blobs, but nearly three times the HP! A single blast from a Firefly round will kill a Blue Blob on the spot, but these Red fuckers take a bit more effort.


On the other hand, both varieties of Blobs are super weak to Necrosis. This screen shot is a little too early, but a blast of Necrosis does something like 600+ damage to the poor bastards! I don't even know if they can be poisoned, because the initial hit just melts 'em!


Even if they're a bit annoying, it's always worth fighting Blobs for those huge rewards.


Let's just duck through this door to find...


what

: Sou...Nott ded y-yett? Phffff! Yu...u not 'uman! Laike AN-ANMC! Just! Wai? Wai yuu hell...PPPh 'umans?




: Yuud betrea... ttthe plan of godd? Deefai na...nachure's order?

: B-b-b-blow it out 'yuu' ass.


Dr. Bowman, ladies and gentlemen. Shockingly, transforming into a taffy monster didn't do much for his mental stability. Oh well, time to shoot him in the face.


Dr. Bowman is a mini-boss, and also a new type of creature called a Brain Stinger. Brain Stingers are kind of the top of the ANMC food chain, being the smartest (smarter than horses, oh wow) and having psychic powers. Bowman here likes to charge up his mental fireball in a slow but difficult to interrupt process. The blast does notable damage, but more importantly inflicts Paralysis.


I decide to counter with a quick dose of Necrosis, since Bowman is vulnerable to poison. What I didn't realize was that I had just won this fight with a single spell in the dumbest way possible.


What happened is that Aya's paralysis kicked in, remove my ability to move or attack. At the same time, Bowman continues to attempt to charge up his fireball, but is constantly interrupted by the damage ticks from Necrosis's poison effect. So, basically, Aya and the Boss are both immobilized three feet away from each other, while the Boss slowly dies from status effect damage.


At this point, I was too busy laughing my ass off to feel any sense of accomplishment.


This is really the only possible response to that buffoonery.




Choosing not to look a gift horse in the mouth, Aya just takes the key card and moves on. Fred, apparently, kinda looked like a blurry image of Niel Patrick Harris. Dunno what this "Neo Ark" thing is, though.


On the way back downstairs, I discover that Blobs are immune to Apobiosis. This displeases me.


So I take out my frustrations on the Grimace.


I also make a trip back up to the Abandoned Mine to clear out some Hot Zones and get some proper use out of Apobiosis.


And here's a shot of Aya walking backwards because I keep forgetting this game doesn't have a quick-turn function.


Anyway, now we're back on track on B2 of the Shelter, blastin' fools and takin' names. Mossbacks are vulnerable to fire, much like the Bog Divers. Firefly shells are awesome for this part of the game.


Mossbacks are also all over the damn place. This would be a real problem is they weren't slower than the cast of The Walking Dead.


Cutting through the Breeding Rooms, we find a Mad Stranger enjoying a new pastime.


Y'know, just hangin' around


What, another one? Man, this swing from pipes thing is really catching on!


In the next corridor, we find a Crawling Stranger. We really haven't seen much of these guys, so now seems like as good a time as any to talk about 'em.


You see, Crawling Strangers are the most troublesome of the Misfit Toys, not because they're particularly dangerous, but because they have loads of HP. It takes 3-4 shots to the dome with the Super Shotty to blow its head off.


And once you do take its head off, IT'S NOT DEAD! Time for another 3-4 shots to the body to put the poor thing down for good. They are a total ammo sink.


oh fuck that noise


LIGHTNING SOLVES ALL MY PROBLEMS


Alright, with that out of the way, we can finally reach this door near where Bowman originally punched us in the gut. The corridor where we actually fought him is directly above this one, by the way. That's how you're supposed to find him.


Okay, so we need a card to open the door, right? Well, we just got a card so let's just...


Huh. Nothing happens. Wait, where was I supposed to use this card again?


So, at this point, I had a complete brain fart and ran all the way around the Shelter, checking every locked door I could think of.


Guess what? This card doesn't open any of these doors!


After about 20 minutes of floundering around like an idiot, I found myself back at the elevator in the lobby. See how it can go to B2? Yeah, I forgot about that. Which, incidentally, is exactly where I'm supposed to go.


That brings us here, to a section of B2 that we really could have reached any time after returning from Dryfield.


There's some worms lurking around here, but it's no biggie.


We can unlock this door down the corridor.


And create a shortcut back to B2 proper! Now I can go back to forgetting that elevator exists!


Anyway, we need to go to this door right next to that elevator that will not be named. Don't even have to open the menu, Aya just automatically uses the ID Card.


Through that door, we find another corridor, a group of Blobs, Wall Turrets and...


The inky blackness of SPACE! Actually, I managed to get a shot of the split second before the prerendered background loads up around Aya. This doesn't happen often, only the occasional room has the almost unnoticeable flash of black when the camera changes, and I don't know if it's a result of the way the game loads objects or some weird side effect on my emulator. Either way, kinda neat.


Anyways, a short fight later, and we find the rear entrance to the Operating Room.


Or...Operating Room AR7, I guess? I dunno.


Yeah, that's a semi-transparent disembodied head chattering at me. What of it?


This Operating Room looks vaguely familiar, but before we can look around, we have to mop up these failed experiments.


FIRE PURIFIES ALL


Now that THAT's done, let's take a look around.

: There's something charred lying on this lab table... The op lights are all shattered. This...This looks so familiar. Wait! These charred restraints...


Yeah, I remember that. That time we roasted Ned! Good times, good times...

: Was that some kind of vision? Who is that girl?



: There's an implant in the brain. Looks like a child's skull. 15 months? I wonder what that means?


Okay, this place is kinda starting to freak me out.



: Laser scalpels, drills... I used to have nightmares about these things.




Hell yes I'll take this I.V. bag from a ruined biological laboratory and drink it. That shit's a full heal, man!



: They used one of these on me after the N.Y. incident.


Well, that's all there is to see here. Before we leave, let's check out this door.


It's that card reader door I thought I was supposed to go to! We can unlock it from this side to create another shortcut for later.


On the other side of the operating room, we find a little hand washing station and one of those "Donate Blood, Save Lives" signs. I like little details like that.


Also this door.


So, this is the lab, the place where Bowman and his pals worked hard into the night to create exploding monster babies. Magical. There's a lot of stuff to see in here, so let's get to it!


First up, another handy storage box.


And this thing!

: We have a similar setup in MIST. You can stick just your hands in to perform aseptic operations. We used it to take DNA samples from creatures.

Nice try, Aya, but we all know no one at MIST actually does any work.


A bunch of boring computers.


There's a phone over there, but we'll get to that later.



: You'd have to be an expert to use one of these.


The really interesting stuff is up here, though.

: This must be the life-support system for this row of incubators.


Incubators, eh?



: It's filled with nutrient solution. What's in there...? Eh...? A girl attached to artificial organs... Golden hair like seaweed... I can't see her face.


Hmm, sounds like something I've seen somewhere before



: It's filled with nutrient solution. Something's inside... Oh my... It's like a lump of flesh attached to artificial organs.


That also sounds vaguely familiar...



: It's filled with nutrient solution. What's that...? Ugh... An infant...with artificial organs.


That...that's just some Alien Resurrection shit right there.


Oh God, another incubator? What's in this one, some sort of free floating Goatse?

: There are some culturing flasks inside with labels...




: Eve...? These contain cell graft colonies...




: Why... Why would my name be here? They're cultivating these "Eve" cells...but why me?


Okay, this is freaking me out. We'd better call HQ and see what the fuck.



: Boss! I found this evil lab, and they have mutant babies in tanks and they're culturing cells labeled "EVE" and "AYA"! What the fuck?! How would they even... Shit, what do I do?




WELP!