Part 31: Dead of the Brain

Fun fact: Nothing prefixed with "Fun Fact" is ever really fun. Also, the PC98 version of this screen mispells it as "Orgun."

Anyway, let's head right into Act 4. Summary Screen, take us away!



Without further ado, we are automatically whisked to BCCH, our next port of call. We're headed to the morgue to find Hojo's body.



This never gets easier. 'Specially at night. Scared?
Maybe a little.
Wuss!
I just don't like the places. You wouldn't believe the things they did to us when we applied for the Policenauts. Ever since then, I guess.
You had to be special to go to space in those days.
What about you?
I can't die. I won't die. That keeps the fear away.
Sorry. Let's go.

Look; Door

Dammit, the door's locked! Why? It was open before.
It's alright, the emergency room entrance is always open.
I see. You really know your way around this place.
What would you do without me?

This only means there's a second smaller entrance to the left of the main entrance. It looks like a lighter blue vertical line. ...I guess that's a puzzle.

Lead the way, Karen.
No problem.



We end up in the lobby, assuming that we accomplished some sneaking minigame involving getting past the ER doctors/nurses to get here.

(One nice effect is that in the empty lobby, the voice actors' echo.)

Where's the morgue? I do know where the bathrooms are.
I remember hearing it being in the basement.

Move; Morgue

The morgue's this way. Follow me. Watch your step.



Stick to me and we'll be fine.

*door whoosh sound*

We're inside the morgue.
Where are the lights in this place?
There must be a switch somewhere.
I'll have a feel around.



So now the player has to grope around the screen for the light source. Yes, I chose that verb for a reason and I swear it was an accident the first time I played that scene. But let's just go for those very faint sensors that you'll see more clearly in the next image.

Hey, I think I found a panel with some switches.



Touch sensors.
The panel lit up. We can see a little better now.
Okay, let's see.... Which one could it be?
Watch out. We don't know what they're for.

Alright, we'll, let's try the first one.

Why don't we start with this one?



* distant whirring *

What's that sound?
Maybe the air conditioner?
Yeah, you must be right.
It's starting to get cold.
I'll turn it off.
Come on, Jonathan, focus!

Wasn't our fault, sheesh. Number two?

* ALARM SOUNDS! *



Turn it off! Quick!

* Alarm turns off *

That definitely wasn't it.
What a fright I got! Will we be okay?
Probably happens all the time. We'll find it eventually.
Are you feeling alright, Jonathan?

Huh. Well, that was no good. Going down the switches doesn't seem to be doing much good, so... the bottommost one?

I guess we'll try this one.
Careful, Jonathan.



* Elevator music plays *

This the PA system?
We'd better turn it off.
Good idea.

Alright, well, only one switch left.

This has gotta be it.





Ahhhhh!
Easy, Karen. What were you expecting to find here?
I have no stomach for this.
Hold on. These are dummies. Look.
Hey, you're right. They're fake. Like the stuff you see in movies. I saw some at a studio once.



Something's definitely not right.
Let's look for your dad.

Graphics in this sequence were annoying as hell to change. There's constant animation going on in the foreground (with the ambient fog in the lower right) which set off the decompressor constantly. Finding the original graphics were a nightmare, and you won't believe what we changed in this scene. For now though, let's continue exploring.

That's a weird thing prominently displayed in the foreground. Futuristic coffin? And what's with No. 7 at its base?

Look; Base



Maybe it didn't make it in time for today's flight.

Terminal on the left?

Look; Terminal

It's a terminal for managing the bodies. Look! It's got a list of all the bodies that have been through here. This type of terminal is automated by 3D data codes.
Let's see.... There were five bodies sent to a No. 7 Factory on the Moon today. We just missed them. They left here 5 hours ago.
Where is this No. 7 Factory?
Hold on, I'll check. Mare Imbrium... Plato Crater... the Tokugawa Moon Plant.
Why are bodies from Beyond being sent to Tokugawa's Moon Plant?
Plato? ...That's it! The Plato your father was talking about before he disappeared wasn't Pluto - it was the Plato Crater!
What about my father's body?
His name's on here. He was sent there today.
So is he among the bodies here?
We should check those bodies over tehre.

...Well, I think both of them are being a bit stupid here, so I'll spare you some click - all four of the bodies hanging on the right are dummies.

They're all fake. Every one of them.
Weird. No real bodies in the biggest hospital on the colony? Isn't this where most autopsies are done?



And why cover it up with these dummies? Could Chris not know?



It would appear so. Let's move onto the back of the room. Maybe that dark blue cabinet looking thing.

Look; Storage Container

It's some sort of storage container. I wonder what it's for.

Open; Storage Container

Let's see what they've got in here.



The animated bubbling in the containers again made graphical changes a chore for the same reason as the previous fog. In fact, I had to change something on this screen so I had to keep track of all the memory locations of the animation frames and watch for which ones were repeated (since the animation loops) and which ones were only drawn once (since they were part of the background and not animated).

I had to start animation breaking on the previous screen, since I was editing the background here. So I had the double challenge of trying to figure out how to get breakpoints to activate here, but not get set off by the fog in the previous screen. How did I manage it? No joke, I just clicked really fast - you get like a second of breathing room between fog animations that I managed to get to this room with.

Then I kept track of all the graphic memory locations here and figured out which ones looped and which didn't. The odd man out was the background we needed to change. What did we change? Well, let's do a little more of the story first.

Transplant organs?
Looks like it. Gross.

First up, the organ on the left is a kidney.

Look; Kidney

It's... a kidney.

...That was really not at all helpful. But what's that name plate at the base of the organ container?

Look; Left Name Plate



It's ... Dave?! Yeah. So here's the deal: Dave's kidney is in this container. And Ishida's heart is in the other. But the graphics were mixed up and Ishida's name plate was on the left. So I took the graphic from Dave's plate here, scaled it way down and used it to correct the original graphic (seen in the previous picture).

What?! This is one of Dave's kidneys!
Who's Dave?
One of Ed's guys at BCP. His body's gone missing.
What's Dave's kidney doing here?

Look; Body Diagram

It's a diagram of the body. One of the kidney areas has been highlighted in red.
This is a diagram of the organs that have been removed. The red dots are the ones they've taken out.

Look; Text on Left

The kidney's time of removal and donor compatibility data are written here.

Back



Look; Heart

It's.... a heart.

Look; Right Name Plate

So who does this belong to?



This is Ishida's heart! He used to work here. His name's written on here.

Actually the original game romanized it as "Isida" in the graphic. That 9-pixel "H" I added is the smallest graphical change in the game. I doubt anyone noticed. I even had to fake the "blurriness" of the H to match the other letters.

Look; Body Diagram

It's a diagram of the body. The heart area's been highlighted in red. So has one of the kidneys, the liver and the eyes.

Look; Text on Left

Look, this one's the same. The heart's time of removal and donor compatibility data have been filled in here.

Back



There's also some weird debris around the canisters.

Look; Debris

What's this dust? It's very fine.
It's Lunar regolith. I'm sure of it.
These containers must have been sent here along with minerals from the Moon.

What are these people's organs doing here?
The answer can't be far away. Let's keep looking.

We actually weren't allowed to stop looking at and around the cannisters until we were done, so now that we are, the game returns us to the previous screen.



The only thing that's left is the metal coffin thing, specifically that green window thereupon.

Look; Window

Look, there's a window on it. Go see what's inside.

Look Inside

I wonder what's inside.






























No.... Victor!
Is he dead?
Look at his skin. He's probably a biomort. Not much difference from the real thing.
You can tell?
Victor said your dad's body appeared the same way. They've got him hooked up to an artificial respirator too.
Who would do such a thing?
Tokugawa. Victor must've learned something. Something that couldn't get out. First Dave, now Victor. God damn you.



Oh really? Like a hospital-wide alarm or the PA system? Nothing subtle like that?

Who's there?!



Ed! Jesus...



Sorry. I don't know my way around here either.
Anyone follow you?
No, I got Meryl going around as me.
She better be careful herself.
So where's Hojo?
That's just it. There are no bodies here. Hojo's included.



The real ones are sent to Tokugawa's Moon Plant.
The Moon Plant? Why? What about Victor?
Victor's... over there. We were too late.



He's not a biomort too, is he?
It would seem so.





They've already cut him apart.



That body's our only evidence!
Ed!
Oh... sorry, Karen.
What are we waiting for? Let's go.
The Moon's a long way.
How would we get there?
I could use my press credentials with BBC.
That'd attract too much attention. I'm wanted, remember.
I'll handle it. I know this tour we should be able to get on.
Karen, you stay here and feed some false info about us. The Moon's still a dangerous place.
I'll have Meryl keep an eye on you. We're counting on you. Make it look like we're still hiding out here.
Okay. I'll see what I can do. I'll have a talk with our CG department. We should be able to fool them for a little while.
Something tells me there's much more to this than Narc.
You talking about what Ishida said?
What about Victor? We just gonna leave him here?



Sorry, Victor.
You were a good man, doctor.



And so ends Act 4, the shortest act in the game. One update. Not even our longest.

Coming up next, we're taking a trip to the moon.