Policenauts Part #36 - Return to BCCH

Part 36: Return to BCCH

Welcome back to BCCH, officially, the most visited locale in the whole game. I think. It's also weighing in as the largest of the gameplay data sections - in fact it's a little too big in English: Policenauts' gameplay script files max out at 65k. We were just under in English, after I removed a few unused data pointers. Pointers only cost two bytes apiece - we were that close on the limit.

I never told Marc this, because I did want to see if we could fit it in with his original script - I never wanted to ask him to truncate it. The only exception was the Summary Screens where I warned him we were getting close, but I don't believe he actually changed the script for the sake of brevity.

The operation was a success, but he still hasn't regained consciousness.

Dad....
Chief....
We'll do everything we can. Just keep praying.
Chris, promise me you'll keep this a secret. Can you have a talk with the other doctors and nurses?
I already did. My job's to look after my patients.

Dad's going to be okay, right, Jonathan?
Anna....
This is all my fault. I was right there, dammit.
I'm the one who got your dad into this, Anna. He didn't wanna get involved.
No, Jonathan. Dad always talked about you. He'd been so happy since you showed up. I hadn't seen him like that since... since Mom died.
Really?

I just want him to be happy. But all I've ever done is give him trouble. He even stayed single because of me. Then asking him for that Elles. I knew it was too much for him.
Anna, about that....

Oh, Jonathan, really? Now?

I know, Jonathan. But I was still happy. He went to all that just for me. His love was the real thing.
Anna, Marc.... Don't you worry about your dad. We'll make sure he gets better.

Down the hall (I suppose)...

Better than before. Are you a relative?
No, just a friend.
I can't believe she went and did something like that. I made it clear that she needed to rest for the time being.
Is that right.

The final telop of the game belongs to Dr. Collins. And why not specify the voice actor of this one-off character who we'll never see again and is barely important at all.

I've been the one treating her illness. Have we... met somewhere before?
No, I don't think so.
I suppose it doesn't really matter... Jonathan Ingram.
What?!
It's okay. I promise I won't call the police. Not after how Karen talked about you. That was enough for me.
You... you believe I'm innocent?
Part of being a doctor is reading the heart as much as the body.

Was I complimenting Kojima on the writing before? Somewhere in Act 5? Wow. My bad.

Thank you, doctor.
If there's anyone to thank, it's Dr. Goldwin. We're just following her orders. Anyway, I'm more worried about Karen.

Look; Karen

Her anemia is quite severe.

She has bruises too.

Those are caused by her platelet count being so low.

Touch; Karen

Sheesh, sorry.

Talk; Doctor

Do you mind if we talk?

What would you like to know?

Ask About; Karen's illness

Karen has aplastic anemia. Basically, there's an abnormality in her bone marrow's hematopoietic stem cells, the cells that create new blood cells, and they aren't able to produce blood correctly anymore.

Ask About; Karen's illness (again)

In her case, the cause is exposure to cosmic rays.

Ask About; Karen's condition

We almost thought she wouldn't make it for a while there. She's suffering from appendicitis, as well as several other infections, because her immune system is virtually non-functioning. Her hemorrhaging hasn't stopped and she's very anemic. That's why her face is so pale. We finished working on her appendicitis with a blood platelet transfusion and high doses of antibiotics, but... she won't survive like this much longer.

Ask About; Treatment methods

Karen was saying a transplant is the only way to treat her. Is that right?

In her case, the only remaining option is a bone marrow transplant. And if we don't do it soon, it'll be too late. We give the patient radiation therapy before the actual transplant. If the patient isn't sufficiently strong enough for that, the prognosis generally isn't good.

Ask About; Treatment methods (again)

The only thing medical science can do for her is a bone marrow transplant.

Ask About; Bone marrow transplants

Karen was telling me about it. It's a complex procedure, isn't it?

You could think of it as similar to a blood transfusion. We take bone marrow stem cells from a donor and transplant them into the patient's carotid artery. The operation takes about an hour. That's the easy part, relatively speaking. Before the transplant, we kill off all the recipient's bone marrow stem cells and white blood cells. We give them large doses of chemotherapeutic drugs and expose their entire body to 7.5 Gray of radiation. It's not as dangerous as it sounds. Generally speaking, anyway.

Ask About; Bone marrow transplants (again)

Bone marrow transplants first began in the 1970s, almost 70 years ago now. The transplant itself is fairly straightforward - the possibility of the immune system rejecting the new cells afterward is the problem. We need a donar whose HLA type matches Karen's.

Ask About; HLA type

I keep hearing about HLA type. What exactly is that?

As transplant science advanced, it was discovered that the primary cause of rejection had to do with the lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell. Specifically, one's human leukocyte antigen, or HLA type. In other words, if the HLA types match, the chance of the transplant being successful go up.

So if the types don't match, you can't perform the transplant?

Yes, that's correct.

Ask About; HLA match probability

What are the chances of finding an HLA match?

HLA types are genetically inherited, so the odds of finding a match between non-blood relatives are extremely low. The rate of interracial and interethnic matchces is almost zero. Children inherit their HLA type as a combination of their parents' HLA types. The highest rate of success is between siblings, where there is a one-in-four chance they'll share the same HLA type. And just to be on the safe side, there also needs to be a match between histocompatibility antigens. If both of these match, the success rate of bone marrow transplants is about 70%.

Ask About; Other methods

Is there no other way?

Normally it is possible to use a physiologically active substance such as interleukin-3 to increase a patient's stem cell count temporarily, but this wouldn't have any effect in Karen's case. That method is used in peripheral blood stem cell transplantation. It was developed in order to lessen the burden on the donor.

So a transplantation is the only option?

Yes. Only a bone marrow transplant will save her.

There's a new option for this.

Implore

We will do everything in our power.

And now, to make shit really weird...

Ask About; HLA donor

So have you found anyone with Karen's HLA type?
We've searched Beyond's bone marrow bank before, but there aren't any matches. However....
However?
This was technically illegal, but when I hacked into Beyond's medical database, I did discover one person with Karen's HLA type.

Ladies and gentlemen... the man who can save Karen:

Gates? You gotta be kidding me.
Do you know him? We requested that he donate, but he refuses to participate.
Gates....
Would you be able to convince him, by any chance?
There's no one else?
As Karen's an only child, I'm afraid not. Well, in extremely rare cases....
Yes?
When both parents' HLA types happen to match, you sometimes find a match between parent and child as well. Although....
Both Karen's parents are dead.
Yes, unfortunately. And to be honest with you....
Yes?
We can't look at Karen's personal information anyway.
Since her father was a Tokugawa employee?
Right. Even doctors need Tokugawa's permission.

Unfortunately, according to the doctor (if we ask about "Other Methods" again), they can't force Gates to donate.

That's right, why don't I run a check on your HLA while we're at it?
Sure. Can't hurt.

We simply extract your HLA from your blood and the computer will tell us your type. We'll know the results in about 5 hours. This is a lot easier than giving marrow.
Yeah?
But even that isn't as bad as it used to be. Now we can cultivate a donor's marrow after it's extracted. People give about five to six times less than before. It's similar to donating blood.
Jonathan!
What is it?

I think he wants you to see it. He doesn't like being in Dad's room anyway.
What is it, Marc?
Take a look.

That's Redwood on the left.
So who's the guy on the right? What's this? What's this flower here?
That's what I was wondering. I don't remember seeing any flowers at AMM.
I wonder what flower it is.
Oh, I think I know. That could be lavender. That's Marc's favorite flower.
Lavender? There wasn't any lavender at AMM.

Jonathan, there's something I gotta tell you. About why the chief didn't shoot back there.
What is it?

You heard about how the chief killed Marc's father 5 years ago, right? And how he hasn't used a gun since?

Yeah. But you know what his name was?

(Yes, really.)

He was Tony Redwood's older twin. Their eggs were fertilized together, but they were born years apart.
Making Redwood Marc's uncle?
Marc probably can't tell them apart. The chief couldn't fire in front of Marc. His mind must've been thrown back to 5 years ago.
Getting shot in front of Marc... that could be Dad's way of saying sorry.

What was it Ed said after he got shot?
He tried to tell us who the person in the spacesuit was. I wonder what tipped him off.
Wait a second. I know what Marc's drawing means!

You figured it out? So who's the guy in the spacesuit?
Click on them with the cursor. Go ahead.

Only one person it could be.

Jonathan

I knew it all along.

...

I guess that's... just ridiculous.

Okay, okay. I got it this time.

Marc

I wasn't fooled for a second.

No, Marc was WITH the astronaut, not the one inside the suit. So who is it, Jonathan?

That's easy.

Victor

You gotta get up the day before yesterday to pull a fast one on Jonathan Ingram.

You saw Victor's body in the morgue yourself, didn't you?! You know, I think there was a smell coming from the spacesuit.

The spacesuit smelled of something! That's what this flower means.

Well, obviously then:

Michael Saito

You'd have to be the world's biggest moron not to figure this one out.

The way the chief sounded so surprised at the time, it probably wasn't him. Take your time and think it through.

Redwood

Our accomplice obviously forgot I'm a private eye.

Redwood's the biker, not the guy in the spacesuit. Hey! You know, that smell might've been perfume.

Who do we know who wears perfume... I've got it!

Gates

I was just playing dumb till the moment was right.

I don't see how it could've been Chief Becker. Who's the person in the spacesuit, Jonathan?

Alright, fine.

Chris

(She has lavender perfume in her office, and if you smell her, she'll comment about lavendar as well.)

Also this video will take you through the end of the update

Right! She's wearing lavender perfume right now.
No.... Dr. Chris?
But who else could it possibly be? She played us alright. This is why Marc wanted to get out of there.
No! She's in with the chief!
Anna, Marc, you stay here! I gotta get to Ed!

And with that, we're off to save Ed.

Chris.... Why?
I said stay away! If you come any closer I'll jump!
Why'd you do it?
I had no choice. You have to believe me.
Who put you up to it?
Tokugawa. He wanted Ed out the way. I'm sorry.
Then it was you who called us out to AMM that night, wasn't it? Right?!

If I wanted to stay out here, I had to hand over everything to Tokugawa. There's just no escaping him here. When I inherited this place from my parents it was saddled with debt. If I wanted to keep it open, I had to do whatever he said. I became a total whore, mentally and physically.
Chris....
I did it for my son too.
You have a son?
Remember that photo in my office?

My modeling work had started to dry up, and I was desperate for publicity. I needed money and help from the government, so I became a Frozener surrogate mother.
A Frozener? Don't tell me.... Redwood?!

Yes. I gave birth to him. But I developed an infection during labor, and lost my ability to conceive. He's the only child I'll ever have.
But as a Frozener he belongs to the state.
Right. They took Tony away from me. I tried again and again to get him back, but nothing worked. They said they didn't recognize me as a legal guardian. Being with Tokugawa also let me see Tony. I just... wanted to be with him.

You can testify about what Tokugawa and Gates have done here. Otherwise you're just a biomort yourself. We have to stand up for what we believe in. Isn't that what life's about?

You can help fix what's wrong with this place, Chris. But you have to tell us everything you know. Please.
You... really think I can do that? Help fix Beyond?
I know you can.
I just....
Please, Chris.
Okay.