Part 72: Neighbors in Arms
Part 72 - Neighbors in Arms
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Here we are in... some unspecified part of town where Saeder-Krupp's old research facility housing APEX and its kill switch is supposedly located. A discovery we'd feel a lot better about had its source not been the AI basically giving away its own home address.

But we can worry about its motivations once we actually find this lab, something we now have to accomplish all on our own. Paul isn't there to guide us, nor can we rely on an employer's intel. It's just us, some kind of digital predator we know little about, and what we can safely assume to be a whole lot of gangers inbetween.

As we approach the entrance of the building ahead, the pack of armed people loitering in the area seem intent to immediately prove that last part right.


Come again? If you're looking for noble adventurers to save the peace-loving people of the Hub from the evil Magnifikers or whatever the heck you're talking about, one of us has clearly wandered into the wrong setting here.


[He makes a sweeping gesture in the direction of the building behind him. The other assorted toughs behind him smile.]

Nice, glad to finally meet someone willing to just coo... waaait a second!


[He smiles at you, revealing a mouth filled with jagged teeth.]



[He pauses for a moment to search for the right word.]

Yes yes we all have our problems, got a hunch ours are a little more pressing than whatever petty turf wars you folks are no doubt engaged in though. Really don't have the patience for these large-mouthed gang types the way we used to...





Each non-dog crew member has their own version of this bit. Eiger rests her hand on her shotgun, Dietrich starts channeling his magic, and Blitz quietly thumbs off the safety of his machine pistol.

[The ork turns his head and spits.]



Playing bounty hunter for some street gangs we couldn't give less of a shit about really isn't what we're here for. It's tempting to put this whole lot to the ground and move on to more important things, but if agreeing to this deal will get us inside with less trouble then so be it.
If we're to get entangled in this nonsense then we might as well make the most of it though.










Right, give us a call once you've successfully convinced the local corps of their moral duty to share their immeasurable wealth with the common man, we'll be sure to hang up our best red curtains.



The gang lifestyle sure seems to attract a lot of weirdos with inflated self-worth. Maybe we can convince the guy to travel to Sutterlin and become Phil's court wizard or something.

[The ork folds his arms across his burly chest.]




Sounds unpleasant. On the bright side, at least you weren't on the toilet.



So, what, religious preachers during the day and gangs blasting each other at night? No wonder that AI's all murderous, with upstairs neighbors like this we'd probably feel like cracking a skull or two after a while too.




Guessing the guns and threats of violence go a long way in helping potential doubters see the wisdom in the People's wealth redistribution policies. Whatever, play at what you like as long as it doesn't obstruct our job here. And speaking of which...







[Dietrich sneers.]


So in the end we're to wipe out the whole bunch after all. If your People were so easily outsmarted and beaten that you can't recover without an outsider doing literally all the dirty work for you, maybe you just weren't really fit to run the place to begin with.




If we had the Gang etiquette we could negotiate a better deal:
quote:
(Gang) This deal's coming out all in your favor. If I'm going to hand your entire territory back, you'll have to sweeten the pot.
[He shrugs.] Well, you've got a point there. Tell you what. Like I said, we had a bunch of weapons stashed in the basement before the Magnifikers showed up. You take care of Trithemius, I'll let you have your pick of the armory. Whatever piece of hardware you want.
That's more like it. One dead mage, coming right up.


What a chatty guy. It doesn't especially matter to us who gets to plant their flag on this particular pile of debris, but let's play along for now and see where we end up.

Hard to imagine a rickety place like this would hide a secret Saeder-Krupp lab, but then maybe that's the point. Couple people hanging behind counters here, some stairs in the back too.

Let's start from the dwarven chap to the south.


This already has all the hallmarks of a highly tiresome conversation.




Really, of all the possible places in Germany this here is where you decided to set up some kinda Matrix cult? You run a paintball club in the local bear enclosure on the side too?


[Parson raises his hands in supplication.]



Oh okay well since Herr Parson says it's safe, who are we to doubt him?



Ah come on Dietrich, sometimes you gotta play along a bit to get to the good stu... hm?
[All at once, Parson's face goes blank. The benevolent smile dies away, and he begins to speak in a monotone.]



Right... Getting the hunch there might be more connections in play here than just between the brain stems of the local faithful. Best not let our guard down.






That's perfectly alright, there's actually a certain kind of safety in good old-fashioned gang turf we're not really feeling down here.




This all about matches our own impression, this guy is definitely sharper than he seems.









[Parson studies your face for a moment, then nods.]


[Blitz sighs.]





This chain of errands is starting to get a bit longer than we'd prefer. Guess talking is a lot less effort then shooting at least.




[He shrugs and offers you an apologetic smile.]





If only we'd had the foresight to bring a few sticks of dynamite. Would solve a lot of the various problems we tend to face, really.




Before moving on, we take a quick peek at this sacred "Hub" of theirs which looks less like a church and more like the world's most depressing LAN party, and that's really saying something. Wonder if all the bloodstains are from before or after they moved in.

Across from Parson's Party Pals is the small store he mentioned, ought to investigate here too.



[He rubs his eyes and does his best to shake himself awake.]


[He pauses for a moment, gathering his thoughts. When the words come, they're slow as molasses.]


[He leans in and lowers his voice to a conspiratorial whisper.]





Sounds like they know how to live it up. Well, aside from the part with the terrorizing and killing, you gotta find the right time and place for that kinda stuff.


[He spreads his arms, a helpeless look on his face.]





Karl's inventory consists of a variety of consumables we already have plenty of, but we pick up some cheap and miraculously non-addictive variety of Cram for the road in case someone will need a boost sometime.

Walking down the hall towards the stairs at the end, we pause to inspect the unresponsive elevator keeping us from our goal.

Any chance at all we could get this thing running without having to get involved in all this gang junk?

Figures. The hard way it is.

No going this way, not that we have much interest in wandering around any more than we need to anyway.


Let's start from the second floor and see if can't find Parson's saboteur.

As something of a filthy hallway connoisseur, we'll give this one a solid 6.5 out of 10. Color palette's real dreary but at least the graffiti and fancy-looking windows serve to give it some character.

Might as well start from the nearest door and see what happens.


This really doesn't even warrant a reaction at this point. Let's just get on with it.
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They always say you should take out the casters first, but what if they're all casters?

Well, one option is to have half of 'em fight for you instead. Is having two sources of Confusion unfair? Probably. Do we have a reason to feel bad about it? Not really. We have places to be.

Dietrich fixes our armor and does his usual boosting while Glory goes after the conjurer. He in turn summons an Inferno spirit which doesn't only knock our razor medic around pretty good, but even has the spare AP to hit us with Heatwave which reduces the accuracy of everyone in the target area by 10%.
As a side note, a spirit summoned by a confused conjurer would still be hostile to us.

Meanwhile the mages (one of which the Healer kindly boosted the aim of) engage in literal friendly fire, though not to any great impact.

The conjurer gets the honor of being the first test subject of Glory's murdercannon, and presumably finds its performance in tearing him to bits entirely within expectations.
While a fairly inaccurate weapon wielded by a medium firearms user, Glory's natural close-range focus compensates for a lot, making this kind of maneuver of rushing into melee followed by shredding people with the minigun from point-blank range quite effective.


Mechanically the minigun's attack options are "a lot of bullets" and "a shitload of bullets". Both require 2 AP which likewise works well with Glory's usual 4 AP.

The Healer just barely survives her own double serving of bullets, but only until Blitz flushes her out of cover and finishes her off.


With the remaining two mages still gripped by confusion, we have all the time in the world to thank them for their valuable service and distribute to them their well-deserved severance packages.
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Afterwards we make sure to collect their amulets to cash in with Ullrich later.

Baubles of the dead aside the room is devoid of anything valuable or interesting, though a small adjacent space contains a pair of spellbooks for Powerbolt III and Glue. Amateur-level stuff, but we can sell 'em off later.

Back in the hallway, we next investigate the closed door on the other side.
Also we're finished with the fight, Glory. You can put the minigun away now.

We could have Blitz bypass this lock, but it'd definitely be more polite to see if someone's home first.


Uh oh. Alright brain, give us your best here!


...We'll take it.

Guessing we've found Parson's troublemakers, though it's a small wonder they've survived this long if that's all it takes to trick them into opening their doors.




[She gestures with her rifle.]



We have a few options here which include convincing her to give us the part with Charisma or Strength or simply by starting a fight, but let's try to play it smart.


Very cute, thinking you're even remotely capable of qualifying for a spot on our list of regrets. At least get a portrait first and maybe then we'll consider looking at your application.

The terminal in question is located in the back of the apartment, next to some wall art altogether too cheerful for its surroundings.

We could just take this stuff, but let's see if we can't figure out something that'll get us what we need without screwing over the people here.


With Decking 8 we could straight up reprogram the transmitter and render the parts (or part, they can't make up their mind on whether it's singular or plural) unnecessary, but we can't use Blitz for that one.


Considering how things have progressed so far, we're probably going to have to go search for this thing too. Might as well report back to Janet first though.








A brief return trip later we enter Karl's shop to look for the regulator (Parson can't be asked for one) but while there, something interesting catches our eye. The picture on his wall we didn't really pay attention to earlier actually depicts a rather familiar face. Could it be that Janet has a secret admirer?

[He rubs his bloodshot eyes.]



[He looks you up and down, his eyes lingering on the gear you're carrying.]

Can't say we know the exact value of one of these things, but we're pretty good at telling when someone's trying to screw us.




Pff. With Charisma 4 we could negotiate the price down to five hundred, and with Street etiquette we could convince him to give it to us for free for the good of the community. We're not streetwise enough for that, but there's one more angle we can try.




[His bloodshot eyes go wide.]






Why, doing anything to his dear Janet was never our plan, no idea at all where he got such a ghastly idea from. We will happily accept his generous present though, very kind of the man.

Back on the second floor once more, and a little bit of fiddling around later...


Alright, now to return this to Parson so that he can give us the location of Trithemius so that we can take his amulet so that we can bring it back to Ullrich so that he'll give us the elevator part and we can get started on what we actually came here to do.
Man.

Good news lady, the local problem-solving fairy has come and miraculously swept your problems away with zero effort from your part.


[You see the tension drain out of her.]



Instead of needlessly wearing out the stairs by traipsing back and forth, let's just finish looking around on this floor before returning to Parson. While approaching the next door and mentally preparing our face for another wave of magical pain, we also note the presence of some squatters in the southern apartment.

To the delight of both us and what few nose hairs we have left, this one turns out to be completely empty of occupants.

Digging through some filthy drawers nets us ¥29, unquestionably leaving us on the losing side of that particular exchange.

The walls are covered in all kinds of drawings and scribbles indicating that these are the Communion domiciles Parson mentioned. We find no spiritual enlightenment here, but we do grab some Bliss from the nearby dresser.

The rest of the place contains nothing of value, though three guesses whether this last one would've been the correct password for Janet and her crew's hideout.

The doors to the last remaining apartment aren't locked and the occupants don't appear hostile either, so we let ourselves in and strike up a conversation with a nearby human man.









[Franz takes a moment to collect himself. When he speaks again, he sounds more composed.]


We're going up there anyway and it's not like we're going to leave any doors unopened like a smart person, we all know it's going to end up being us whether we volunteer or not.

As a side note, had we not already gained access to Janet's place then Franz would offer the password in trade for the task (yes the same password written on that note next door) and we could ask him to part with his savings for his wife too. He'd also give us his take on the Communion:
quote:
Do you know anything about the hackers over by the stairs?
Janet, you mean? Of course we know her. She and her bitheads control the only Matrix hookup in this dump. Thankfully, she allows us to use her uplink. It's only by her generosity that we've been able to provide for ourselves at all. And she's kept us from having to rely on Parson and his wacko religion, thank God.
[He leans toward you and lowers his voice.]
By the way, friend... you don't want to plug in with those Communion drones. I've seen it too many times. People jack into the Hub, and when they come back out, they're... different. It's creepy, and it's wrong.
Different? What do you mean different?
Maybe "detached" is a better word? I've seen all kinds of people jack into the Hub, but only one type comes back out. Quiet. Subdued. Disinterested in anything other than their beloved "Communion."
I don't know what happens to them in there. But they're somehow less... I don't know, less *alive* when they come back out. It makes my skin crawl.


We're all done here, so we're going to go and do just that.
As a final note, we could tell Franz that upstairs is safe at any time, whether we've actually cleared the spirits or not.

Before wrapping up for today, let's reunite Parson with his precious parts.




[As suddenly as it disappeared, the smile returns.]


But plenty of it when we do! And in case you're wondering, our crewmate would say the exact same thing even if we'd taken the parts by force.





[His smile widens.]



Today sure has been a very productive day, though mostly for the benefit of people other than ourselves. Next time we'll find out what fun surprises the third floor has for us, one of them hopefully including a way into the basement.

Just a couple of brief dialogue highlights today. Trolls are able to easily convince Ullrich to stand down:
quote:
Best step back and stand down before you get hurt.
[His lips curl into a disdainful sneer.] You sure you wanna go down this road, friend? We've got you outgunned, and we're in no mood to be screwed with.
(Troll) Who said anything about guns? Back down, or I'll break you in half, little ork.
[The ork looks you up and down, and you can see the uncertainty gnawing at him. When he speaks again, the swagger has disappeared from his voice.]
Take it easy, friend. I'm not gonna draw on you. You just... you just caught me at a bad time.
One can also attempt to intimidate Parson into revealing Trithemius' location without having to do his fetch quest, though it doesn't work:
quote:
I want you to talk with them and convince them to bring me back my components. Do this, and I'll tell you how to get to Trithemius. Deal?
I have a better idea. Why don't you just tell me what I want to know, and then there won't be any need for violence.
I cannot accept this diminishment of the Communion. I believe you were meant to bring us back together, and it will be so!
I need that information, and I need it now. Unless you want to see some real violence, tell me what I want - now.
[He chuckles softly to himself.] Killing me will only allow me to join forever with the Communion, and you will have destroyed the only source of the information you require. Get me my parts, and you'll have your information.
Lastly, while there's no practical difference between them, there's a variety of snarky responses one can give to Janet depending on how her door was opened. For example:
quote:
Who the hell are you? And how did you get through the door?
I used my charm and natural musk. Gets 'em every time.
Or:
quote:
Who the hell are you? And how did you get the password?
I just guessed. "Shark Tank" was my mother's maiden name.