Part 21: Question Your Allies

Welcome back to the Shooting Trainer. Now that Jonathan and Ed have witnessed Meryl's take on Training Mode Level 2, it's probably best if we continue the investigation.



Lemme take these off.



I know, I know, the shells. What about you?
I'll pass.
They're only targets! You gonna run from this forever?
I just can't do it.
It's okay, man.

Move; Forensics



You handed them over to a jerk, that's what.

Talk

Doctor?
You got questions, I'll try and give you answers.

Ask About; Capsules

The capsules have been switched. The ones we got back are fakes.
Blia! I should never have handed them over to them! Think you can make a fool out of Victor Jurgens!

... ...Is there some sort of follow-up, Victor? Are you going to do anything about this? No? Well, alright, good going I guess.

Ask About; Redwood

You gave them to Redwood personally, Victor?
Yeah, it was him - no doubt about it. It must have been him that switched them. Bastard! Trying to blame me. I'm sorry, guys, I really am.

Ask About; Tokugawa

You suspect Tokugawa really are behind these capsules?
Only an organization with some hefty resources could come up with something like that. With everything Tokugawa has at their disposal, I figure it's totally feasible. I can't imagine any other company or the Mafia being able to pull it off and make it look like Tokugawa's work. It is definitely their drug code on them, but that's not the complete proof we need.

Alright, let's get out of here and check in on Gates.

Move; AP Room

We'll be back later, Doctor.
My name's Victor!



Approach; Gates

Let's go talk to him.



Talk

Hey, Gates.
What is it?

Ask About; Redwood

How much do you trust Redwood?
Redwood is an outstanding officer. I've known him since he was a boy. There may be questionable aspects to him, but that's not unusual for Frozeners. He undergoes regular psychological examination. The results say he's perfectly normal.

Not good enough.

Ask About; Capsules

We believe the capsules we got from Hojo have been switched by Redwood!
Switched? Now why would he do something like that?

Ask About; Capsules (again)

Are you sure you're not mistaken? I won't have you throwing accusations at my men without any proof.

That was an indavertent burn to my friend Ed, so fuck off!

Move; Lobby

v Cheerio, Gates.



I've off-handedly mentioned that Policenauts can be really linear, but as an example if you want to go to Karen's house, or Ed's house or AMM or back to BCCH... well, Ed won't let you. This happens pretty frequently. On the one hand, it's nice to know if there's more clues to be had in a given scene, so you don't waste time looking for solutions/ways to advance that aren't there... on the other, it feels pretty limiting, and you can't freely explore.

Move; Exit

Let's see what info we can gather here. We could be overlooking something.

Fine, Ed. You're the boss _{when Gates isn't around}.

Move; Vice





It's been a bit since we talked with Meryl and Dave, so what've we got?

Ask (Meryl) About; Tokugawa's actions

Any news on the Tokugawa front?
Something's going on for sure. Their monthly festival has been canceled, meanwhile they're also way behind schedule with their anniversary preparations. There's definitely more to this than some missing employee.
There was something strange about Tokugawa Pharmaceuticals too. It was too quiet, even for the middle of the night.

Ask (Meryl) About; Lorraine's Murder

There's not much interaction between the police on Home and BCP, so there haven't been any real developments. The OLA police are still trying to write if off as a terrorist bombing. A lot of Beyonds have been the targets of eco terrorists lately. Apparently it was a special type of bomb that was used. According to the report, it wasn't your everyday device. Some of the parts they picked up at the scene are only available to the military and the police.

Here's an interesting one:

Ask (Meryl) About; Hojo's whereabouts

I've still no idea where he could be. I checked the list of all recent deaths on Beyond, but I didn't see anyone that might've been him.
The informant said Hojo's already been killed.
Yeah, I figured the same. That's why I checked the list. Well, that means if he's dead his body hasn't been discovered yet. I also checked the list of all waste leaving Beyond, but I didn't find anything suspicious. If you wanted to, you could smuggle a body outside by covering it in paraffin, or doing a cut-and-grind job.
Victor was saying the best way to hide a body would be to bury it. They've got a bunch of sensors in the ground all over the colony. Doesn't seem very likely to me. I think it'd be safer and easier to hold someone alive somewhere rather than kill them and try to dispose of the body.

Ask (Meryl) About; Her past

So you were in the military on Home? Why'd you join?
Everyone in my family was in the military. I guess that's why. I think they kinda hoped I would.

Ask (Meryl) About; Her

Why'd you move to Beyond?
I was in the special forces on Home, but the way the world's regions were stabilizing and whatnot meant we weren't needed as much. There was no excitement in that. I was dying to see some real action. Then the government started using more and more Frozeners. They ended up getting all the work. That's when I thought I'd try it here. I passed all the checks no problem, but Beyond's the same story. All those bug-eyed albino freaks. Just my luck, huh?

Meryl doesn't know Redwood, nor about the capsules, so let's move onto Dave, who is awesome.

Ask (Dave) About; Capsules

Capsules? That reminds me, there was a call from a Chris at BCCH. She said to tell you she couldn't find those capsules anywhere.

Ask (Dave) About; Tokugawa's actions

What did you find out about the people at Tokugawa's party?
Like you said, Jonathan, they're with various Mafias on Home. Word on the street is that some big deal was going down, but it seems they've all left.
I wonder what's going on.
This is Tokugawa. Guy keeps his cards close to his chest.

Ask (Dave) About; Hojo's whereabouts

I checked all the spaceplane passenger lists for the last month, but I didn't see Hojo's name or any that looked like a possible alias.
There might be a lot of truth to what the informant was saying.
But I did catch one surprise.
What?
Redwood left on a flight for Home the same day as Hojo's wife.

Ask (Dave) About; Him

Why'd you become a cop?
You know, you're the first person here besides the chief and Meryl who's ever asked me that. Well, as you know I was born here on Beyond. I've never been outside the cylinder. I became a cop because I thought I could get a transfer to Home. It takes time for Beyonds to obtain an immigration visa. Sometimes years. It's not easy either, with all the checks they do. You're lucky, Jonathan.

Ask (Dave) About; His hobbies

Why'd you wait till now to ask me that? I guess my favorite thing to do is building kits with a box of Maximum burgers next to me. The PVC you get here is made in zero gravity, so you don't get any air bubbles or warping or bumps. Everything comes out real nice. They're better built and cheaper than the models you find on Home.

Alright, well talking a bit more about Lorraine's murder (no new information, really) triggers the next scene...



There was a call from a "Nine Stars".
Thank god for that.
That's the informant from AMM.
The message was, "Things have changed. Meet me at the same place at 4 AM." It was a woman's voice.
A woman's voice? Any video?
No, it came in down here. And I couldn't record it because of the encryption.
Our informant's a woman?
Who knows.
Could've just altered their voice.
Encryptions are becoming harder and harder to crack. The tech in the private sector is leaps ahead of ours.
Did they have a Home accent?
They may have.
Really....
What is it?
Just... wasn't expecting that. Forget it.
We need to bring this guy in this time. With the capsules gone, he's our only lead.
You needing us on this one, chief?
No, you two stay put.
Say the word anytime, Jonathan. I'm always here for you.
Thanks, Dave. That means a lot.
You can count on me.

Move; Lobby

Move; Exit



Totally agreed.

Drive; AMM





Dang.... This place is creepy as.
This is all wrong. This isn't like him. Not a soul in sight. What gives?
He did say things had changed. Who knows what's up.
Doesn't make it any easier. Museums at night are just... spooky.

"This place is creepy as" is an intentional line (an expression, I mean). I thought it was a typo the first time.

Look; Entrance

It's AMM. It won't be open at this time of night. All the lights are off. Doesn't look like anyone's around.
You think he's really here? After how careful he was last time?
Something's obviously come up. Something urgent that can't wait.

Go Inside

Hey, the door's open!
Naturally. Nine Stars is waiting for us.
Yeah, that makes sense.
"Nine Stars".... Gimme a break. Time to meet "Two Fists".
Let's go.



We're in the Coral Hall. No one around.
I don't like it. It's way too quiet.

One nice touch is their voices echo in this scene.

No one around, though. Moon Corner?

Leave; Moon Corner



We're at the Moon Corner. It's so still. Must be what the Moon's really like.
You... get the feeling we're being watched?

Those two astronauts were part of the exhibit previously. I think. Hmmm. If we look at either of them, Jonathan remarks that it doesn't look like the informant's inside either of them. So let's keep going.

Move; Space Corner



We're at the Space Corner.
I don't see him anywhere

One place left.

Move; Beyond Corner



Look! Our heads have been cut off!
Interesting sense of humor.
I have a real bad feeling now. We better find Nine Stars!

Examining the statues will result in Ed remarkng that the cuts are very clean and it was likely done with a laser cutter.

Maybe we should go to Pioneer a second time.

Move; Space Corner