Part 20: The Calm Between the Storms

Part 20 - The Calm Between the Storms





The Dead Man's Switch can roughly be divided in two halves, with the Ripper plotline being the primary focus of the first half. This short part (and equally short update) mostly serves to connect it to the second half wherein the bigger picture will come to sight, the real truth will be revealed, the true evil will be discovered, etc. etc.







But for the time being we find ourselves at the Union's bar as usual. Some familiar faces and one random background NPC seem to have gathered nearby.

There she is!



And the Emerald City Ripper. Ironic that you tracked a serial killer to a mental hospital!

I'm a little on the fence on whether or not that counts as irony but sure, let's go with that.

Johnny Clean told us where you were going, omae. We have been waiting for you to return.

I thought you knew better than that, Johnny.

This particular line is only available with the Shadowrunner etiquette, and it's one of the few used only for flavor. You've probably noticed by now that one could easily skip etiquettes completely and not miss out on very much. Would you believe me if I told you we're already past 80% of all etiquette-based dialogue choices in the entire game?

You should, I looked it up and everything.

[Johnny frowns and nods.]

You're right. I should have kept my mouth shut. I should know better. It's just that we have a personal stake in the Ripper murders.



I admit that the killings have hampered business as well. I am sorry but it is true. It does not help that Sam's body was found down the street from here. Even my regular customers have been loathe to venture out with a killer on the loose. Now tell us, omae. Did you find the person responsible for the Ripper murders?

Not exactly. I got the bastard who wielded the scalpel, but whoever's pulling the strings is still out there.

Someone's pulling the strings of a serial killer?

This sounds more complicated than I suspected.

Oh yeah. The whole thing was a Frankenstein job. The Ripper was harvesting body parts to reassemble Sam's mother, Melinda. All the victims had transplanted organs - her organs - and the Ripper was taking them back.

Wait, wait, wait, hold on now. We knew that

1. Silas had a copy of Melinda's disinterment order
2. He had a donor program report with a list of the organs and their recipients
3. He also had a blueprint-like diagram depicting the human female form

First of all, we were never told where the organs originated from. It makes sense the source would be included in the donor program report, but we as a player never got to see it. Second of all, where did the part about putting them back into Sam and Jessica's mother come from? I can see that as one possible theory based on the disinterment order and the aforementioned diagram combined with the fact that Silas was a total nutjob, but leaping into that one as if it's the obvious conclusion is a little out there, especially as we don't have even the faintest hint of his motivation for doing such a seemingly nonsensical thing.

I feel like this part is sorely missing a discussion similar to when we put together the whole Silas-Holmes connection with Johnny Clean, piece by piece. As it stands, this sudden discrepancy in knowledge between the player and the player character is kind of jarring.



So... Sam had an organ transplant from his mother? And then... the Ripper killed Sam, and all those other people... just to reassemble Sam's mother??

Looks like it.

Does it? Gonna have to take your word on that one.

I sense a cause and effect in this. Coyote and Jake Armitage just left here to attend Sam's funeral. I am told that ther will be a reinterment ceremony for his mother as well.

His sister invited me to the funeral and the reinterment when I met her here.

Think she had something to do with it?



It is clear that you must go to the funeral and talk with Jessica Watts, Amazon.

That's where I was headed, Mrs. Kubota.

I mean we were invited and all, it'd be rude not to pay a visit. One thing that doesn't really come through in this LP is that most Sam-related dialogue choices include one which is very warm and friendly, as if Sam was our best buddy in the world and his death was actually a real blow to us. Here for example we could've said that we were going to go pay our respects to our friend.

While it's purely for RP purposes and makes zero actual difference anywhere, having a personal motivation does make the player character's drive to find the "real" culprit feel more natural. Sam never specified the terms for the payment beyond "get the person who killed me" which we've now done, so someone only in this for the money should already be running to his law firm to claim their hundred thousand, the greater truth be damned.

Of course you were. Thank you for allowing us to catch up.



Well he isn't in heaven. I'm sure of that.

[She nods in satisfaction.] Hai. That is good.



While that's the end of that particular conversation, there's one more thing we can bring to Kubota's attention.

Was there something else, omae?

I found this list in a data-store at Mercy Mental.

This is of course the buyers list for Silas' bunraku.

Oh, my... this is... unspeakable. Murder was not enough for this person? Selling patients as bunraku slaves! Thank you for bringing this to me. I know you are still hot on the trail of your friend Sam's killer, so I will contact some runners to liberate these poor souls from the buyers in this list. You have done much good here, today. The hand of the Ripper was more of a monster than anyone could have known.

What, no reward?



Pfffft. We do get 2 Karma for our good deed at least.



Van Graas is also here, ready to do some fencing as always. Now you might be wondering, didn't we already give the data we found to Mrs. Kubota?

I'm enjoying my drink, here. What is it?

How much does this Super Brawl championship ring go for on the street?

That's right, we still have the ring we snatched from Josie's severed arm at the infirmary. Most people probably hand it over to Lorraine because that's the thing you do in a video game, but you gain absolutely nothing for doing so. No, not even any warm fuzzy feelings as she barely acknowledges the thing.



The inset gems alone are worth 800 nuyen or so, but a collector would probably pay more for that year's ring. You want me to get rid of it? 1200 nuyen.

No way to drive up the price this time, but it's still not bad at all considering procuring the thing took no extra effort from our part.

I'll take it.

It's done. I'll transfer the money.



Kluwe is at his usual spot in the back room.



Good to be back, Mr. Kluwe. What's the latest news?

I feel like I should be asking you. Word around here was that you were closing in on the Ripper when you last left. Dare I ask how that went?

He's in the ground.

Where he belongs. Good. And yet your shoulders are no more relaxed, and you still survey the room like a woman who has yet to return from war. This isn't over, is it?

I would hope not, we haven't even gotten Class A drones yet.

Not quite. A few loose ends to tie up.

[The big guy sighs.]

I was hoping this would soon be all behind us. The Barrens has a short memory, but for wounds such as these, it makes an exception. To see this prolonged, I fear for how it may forever change the landscape.



It would take an army, Mr. Kluwe.

Maybe a couple. Take care, Amazon.



Let's go see how the people downstairs are doing before heading out.









Still all in one piece, I see. More's the pity for me, but I'll still take your money. Perhaps a full physical is in order? Or we can call it a medical consultation. That's where I roughly determine the odds of your survival based on your professional... proclivities? It comes with a lollipop. So what will it be?

Actually, I'm curious how many patients you've lost over the years.



Call it professional curiosity.

It's that arm on the table, is it the same one every time or do people just happen to lose a lot of left arms here?

Then I suppose I should be equally professional and answer without judging you for asking. And I should not let it bias me the next time you fall under my knife.

Geez, the question might've been a tad blunt but that's going pretty dark.

To give you a hard number is difficult. There are many who I would have considered patients that never made it home. And so I suppose one could say they died while under my care, though not as a result of it.



Six who I was unable to save, spread across a thirteen year career. And I remember each and every one, down to the smallest detail, including the moment where I realized I could do nothing more for them. I would argue that four of those six were beyond helping from the moment they passed through my door. The fifth died as a result of complications while installing a stolen piece of experimental cyberware, which I had cautioned against using.

And the sixth?



Still sounds like a pretty stellar track record, doc.

[She picks up her tablet and resumes her work.]

Yes, well, will there be anything else?

Unfortunately neither Castle nor any other merchant down here has gotten any new wares since last time, so we move on.



Fry is around but has seemingly lost interest in the whole Ripper nonsense overnight as he has nothing new to either say or sell. So Gruberman's next.



Got some catalogs just come in, if you might be interested in an order. I can get gear shipped overnight from the manufacturer, though I won't lie to you, you'll be paying for the convenience. Otherwise, I got plenty of the usual bang-bangs waiting for a good home. What do you say?

What's the new hotness when it comes to dealing damage, Buster?

Well, there are two schools of thought on the matter. There are those who swear by their smartguns and such because they make the weapon more accurate, and thus more deadly. Then there are those who subscribe to the bigger boom theory, putting all their money on the biggest and baddest rounds.

I enjoy talking with Gruberman, you know pretty much exactly what you're going to get with him.



Military life never taught me that. It was dealing to runners like yourself that afforded me this epiphany. You've got to be ready for anything. On that note, might I interest you in some custom mods? Or perhaps some specialty grenades?

Really? Military experience never taught you that different weapons might in fact work better in different situations?

I'm starting to seriously question whether it's safe to keep this guy in charge of all the hardware.



Mersmann is a man of few words as always, so we move on to Aljernon.



Ah, Amazon. I was watching you approach from the astral realm. So good of you to visit again. What might I do for you on this fine day?

So how are things in the astral?

Always a curious place, the astral. Though a mirror world to our own, it is ever changing. I suppose the same can be said of our reality, but things of a transitory nature here on the physical plane can cause long-lasting changes in the astral.

Some say the aftereffects of the three-week Grand Taco Fest of '23 still linger there to this day.



And just how is the astral textured these days?

There is a great deal of fear and distrust. In some places, it is strong enough to impact the working of magic. But enough of my doom-saying, you must have better things to do. Is there any way I can help?

We sell some of the extra junk we've picked up to him and, having finished our business at the safe house, return upstairs and head back to the main entrance.





Funeral ceremonies tend to be pretty dreary, but all signs are pointing at this one being more interesting than most.