Policenauts Part #35 - Return to Beyond

Part 35: Return to Beyond

Welcome to Act 6, everyone. Summary Screen, take us away! Also, since I had neglected an Act 5 summary screen, have one of those too.

That's a pretty cool image of 3 Goddards in the tunnel from the biker chase scene. Sadly, that will never occur in game, so I'm not sure why it was chosen for the background to be occluded by words.

Am I glad to see this place. 6 days of damned pods.
Hope everyone's okay. Let's get started on compiling the VRE data we got on the Moon.
We should be able to use BBC's virtual editors.
I don't see anyone watching the house.

Six days at a hundred G's I guess didn't do a whole lot to them. Thank you, anti-shock pods!

Anyway this is still cutscene - Jon and Ed automatically head inside.

Dad! They took Marc! They took him....
What?! What happened?

Predictable, you say? Well, here's something unpredictable: Karen and Meryl are here too, for no great reason!

Bastards got him....
Jesus Christ....

Only a Frozener could have such sloppy handwri- wait, is that written in his blood? Did Marc have a shootout with him or something? That was more than a little unnecessary, ~~Redwood~~ biker (can I stop pretending yet?)

AMM's holding its anniversary event right now.
They're trying to lure us out for a public execution.
They know people are still looking for you too.
I'll go alone! If they harm him so help me....
Calm down, Ed! We can't show up there together, we know that much.
So what are we supposed to do?!
I have an idea.
What?
We can use our cameras.

Thank you for your participation here, Meryl. Let's fade on out.

And back in.

Welcome back to AMM, which is now replete with fireworks and a pretty awesome Beyond Coast balloon. It's an anniversary celebration, after all.

We're covering their anniversary event, naturally. This way you can keep an eye on things without actually going inside. We have access to practically the entire building.
Yeah, and since we're all on radio.... You read me, Ed?

You there, Meryl?

No, nothing yet. They're probably in disguise, though.
You'll spot 'em a mile away with their complexions.
That's right, how are you feeling, Karen?
Oh, a little better now, thanks.
Something happen?
Karen collapsed while you and the chief were away. She had to be taken to the hospital.

"So, what's the new gameplay mechan-"

No, no, not yet. We're still in a cutscene.

Seriously?
It happens all the time. I can't let it hold me back. Let's just concentrate on finding Marc.
Yeah.

Any sign of him?
Try to relax, man.
I know, I know. Just let us know the second you see him. Marc's... Marc's my boy.
Yeah.
I... I....
Pull yourself together, dammit!
You're right.
No need to rush anything. Okay? Stay cool.
Thanks, Jonathan. I'll take the Moon Corner.
Heading back so soon?
Hilarious.
I'll cover the lobby. Meryl out.

Okay, Jonathan, let me explain how to use the monitors.

There's a total of eight cameras inside AMM. We only have four monitors in the van, though, so we can only see four feeds at a time.
Right.
Each monitor carries feeds from two different cameras. When you want to change feeds, use the buttons to the right of the monitor. Just press the button for the camera you want, and it'll switch over just like that. Piece of cake, huh? The top-left monitor carries cameras 1 and 2 in the lobby.

Karen helpfully toggles from Lobby to Coral Hall and back.

The top-right monitor carries cameras 3 and 4 in the Beyond Corner.

Do we have to go through all these? The lower-left controls that Beyond Corner, while the lower-right is on Space Corner.

Anyway, you probably get the idea. When Karen stops her overly long tutorial, we'll be switching between camera angles, keeping an eye out for Ed, Meryl, hopefully Marc, and anyone else who's holding him.

The even-numbered cameras show a wide shot of the area.
How do I use the radio?
Just click on Ed or Meryl when they're onscreen.
Got it.
It's all yours.

Alright... well. What do we do here? The answer is that we toggle back and forth on the cameras, looking around. There's nothing unusual around according to Jonathan, though.

If you're wondering if this scene were particularly tough to ROMhack, the answer is... no. Went completely smoothly.

(I switched all the cameras instead of the upper-left.)

(Here, I switch Camera 2 to Camera 1 to see Meryl in the Lobby.)

Talk; Meryl

Nothing to report right now. I haven't noticed anyone suspicious come in.

(Switch Camera 4 to Camera 3)

(Switch Camera 6 to Camera 5)

Talk; Ed

I don't see anything unusual.

But just then...

Jonathan, the feeds from the Beyond Corner are down!
Strange.

Both Cameras 3 and 4 show that. All the others seem fine.

Talk; Ed

Ed, something's wrong with the cameras at the Beyond Corner. Go check it out.
Meryl's closer. Can you get her to do it?

Sheesh, sorry. Would've thought you'd like to be more proactive in saving your son you ~~adopted~~ won by killing his Narc addict father.

Talk; Meryl

Meryl, there's a problem with the cameras at the Beyond Corner. Check it out, will you?
Copy that.

With that, Meryl dissolves out of view.

See what my cursor's on now? I always think that's the biker, but it's just an anime woman with specular hair.

Anyway, switch a couple cameras, take a look around and shortly thereafter...

Talk; Meryl

What'd you find?
Looks like someone's idea of a joke. Handkerchiefs were covering the lenses.
Handkerchiefs? Weird joke.
A decoy?
You better get back to the lobby.
Copy that. I'll just do a sweep of the area first.
Meryl.... Be careful.
You're not getting all sappy on me, are you? Meryl out.
She'll be fine.

And back to business as usual.

Talk; Ed

Someone placed handkerchiefs over the cameras.
Handkerchiefs? Some kid, maybe?
Watch yourself.
I hear you.

So we keep looking around for awhile until we switch to Camera 3-

Oh. Oh!

Look; Biker

It's him! It's Redwood!

Talk; Ed

Ed! He's here!
Where?
The Beyond Corner! I can't get a hold of Meryl.
I'll go myself.

And disappears. Well, shit, now what?

The answer is nothing - we can look around for a bit, but things don't happen until we switch to Camera 4:

And back to 3:

He's disappeared from the camera's field of view. Hurry up, Ed... we're gonna lose him.

Again, switching between cameras 3 and 4 triggers the next thing: Ed gets there.

Talk; Ed

He should be around there somewhere.

Okay, well, I'll keep looking.

Big help, Ed. If we switch to camera 7, we'll see Meryl's now at Space Corner.

Meryl! He's here! He was at the Beyond Corner a second ago.
Did you lose him?
He could've headed your way. Just letting you know.
Copy that.

So at this point, we can look around until we switch to camera 1:

Look; Marc

It's Marc! That's the same suit Ishida was wearing.
Marc looks okay.

Talk; Ed

Ed! We found Marc! He's with a guy in a spacesuit in the lobby!
Is he okay?
He's fine. I'll send Meryl. It could be a trap. You stay put!
Alright.

Talk; Meryl

Get over there!
Anyone else?
Not that I can see.
Copy that. Heading for the lobby.

Meryl disappears. And a moment later, so does Marc and the astronaut. Ugh, nothing is going right today!!!!

We look around some more until Meryl finally arrives.

Talk; Meryl

He's not showing up anywhere on the monitors.

He isn't here, Jonathan.

Hmmm. This is not going well, until we check out Camera 7.

This chase is getting decidedly wacky.

Look; Astronaut

He's at the Space Corner! Marc's still with him.

Talk; Ed

Ed, Meryl - you guys listening?
You see him?
What's the situation?
They're at the Space Corner! Get over there!
Copy that. On my way.