Part 22: Welcome to the Hood

Part 22 - Welcome to the Hood










There seems to be some kind of a hubbub over at the market. Before investigating further, let's look over who we're bringing with us this time around.



Coyote has come a long way since we busted her out of Stevie's. With 66 HP, 5 armor and very respectable skills, I'd probably bring her even if she wasn't tagging along for free.



The 990 and Super Warhawk are the third-best shotgun and pistol in the game respectively, making her very effective at any range barring the longest of distances. On top of that she's carrying a pair of 16 damage grenades and two Advanced Medkits.



Cadence is the newcomer Street Samurai with a very focused skillset. She can do exactly two things: fire a rifle and throw grenades. She's here to fill our gap in long-range firepower.



She's only carrying a single weapon, but that weapon's the second-best rifle in the game (and only 1 damage below the top-tier one). She also carries an Advanced Medkit and a pair of Ares High Explosive Grenades which are the strongest in the game at very respectable 20 damage a pop.



She's also got some metal parts which provide her with decent stat boosts.



Falk is a popular Network runner because he covers Mage and Shaman spells while being strong at both, making him a very flexible support character. How can he have 5 Conjuring with only 1 Charisma you ask? Well you see



Oh look shiny spells! Armor 3 is about where the Armor spells actually become useful and the lack of a cooldown means you can cast it on multiple people on the same turn. Haste 3 is a Haste spell and thus useful by default, but the increased cooldown from Haste 2 is prohibitive as 4 turns is an eternity in this game. Barrier spells such as Lightning Barrier 3 here are interesting, allowing one to either create cover for the team or to limit the enemy's movements. Overall barrier spells are more useful in the later games due to cover itself being more important there.

Equipment-wise he's carrying a mage Powerbolt and an Ares Predator together with a concussion grenade and a smoke grenade. A support character through and through.

But enough about our gang, we have a lot to cover and we're gonna be here all day if we don't get to it soon.



They've set up a stage here in the market, for a concert of some sort by the looks of it. Lots of security, including armed drones.



Maybe this guy in the crowd can tell us more.



Ah, seems like we have a big celebrity in town.

I'm going to the Universal Brotherhood.

Wavy. One of my roommates is a Sister. She seems happy. She's hoping to get into the "inner circle" soon.

That sounds... great.

Yeah! I don't know what it is but she's excited about it. I think there's a graduation ceremony. Anyway, I'm gonna try and find a better spot to hear.

Nothing says "we're totally not a creepy cult" like having an "inner circle".



Ms. Mercurial seems to have a lot of fans around here.



And judging by his outfit, this guy's probably one of her guards.



You know one thing I love about Shadowrun? Elves with beards.

Do you work for the rock star?

Yes, ma'am. I work for Maria Mercurial. Something I can do for you?

I'd like to meet her.

Lots of people want to meet Maria Mercurial.

I'm an old friend of hers.

I'm sure you are. Ms. Mercurial has lots of friends in Seattle. She lives here.

This guy's pretty good.

Wait, why are we trying to lie our way into meeting her anyway? Maybe Amazon's a fan?

Can I get into the concert?

That's not up to me. The concert was only announced an hour ago but the tickets are already sold out. Sorry. Nothing I can do.

That seems abnormal, but I guess they know what they're doing if it's already sold out.

I see. Know anything about the Universal Brotherhood by any chance?

Just what I see on the tri-d.

Well, I'm going to look around.

Suit yourself, chummer.



Whoever this guy is, he can't be very smart considering he's standing in the rain literally a step away from cover.



Nerps?

You been living under a rock, omae? Nerps is the wonder drug. It'll cure whatever ails you.

Hells yeah we're all about them nerps

You've got Nerps?

No, I'm out of Nerps. But I got something else you might like.

Oh come on, what

Actually, this guy is the first "merchant" with the AP-increasing Jazz in his selection which anyone interested in breaking the game would do well to stock up on. It's practically worthless for Amazon as extra AP is of very limited use to her, though.

I didn't know there was a concert today. Who's playing?

Maria Mercurial - the Silver Lady. She is the waviest. So smooth. I love her chromed cyberlimbs. She's kinda fallen off the radar lately, though. Looks like she's making a comeback!

When does the show start?

It's gonna be hours. They just started setting up and a crowd is already forming. This is her town, so it's no surprise.

I see. Take care, I'm gonna go.

Whatever this sudden concert is all about, it doesn't seem to have anything to do with us or our goal which lies just around the corner.



Was kinda hoping this place had blown up in some freak accident, but unfortunately here it stands, just like before.



Oh and look Patrick's here again. Remember Patrick?

Have you looked at the world lately? I don't see a better tomorrow coming.

I used to feel the same way! Then I heard Lynne Telestrian speak at my first Discovery Meeting and I realized what I'd been missing! Come in and find the power of Belonging.

Belonging? Seriously?

The only place this guy belongs in is the garbage can.

Absolutely, sister! In a world as cold as this one, what's more important than Belonging? I can see you have some questions. Why don't you ask them?

What exactly is the Universal Brotherhood?



It sounds like a religion.

That's because it is, sister! After all, what is religion but an organized collection of beliefs that relate meta-humanity to our spirituality? We believe that the Brotherhood is the highest form of religion because it brings us closer to the Truth.

Any resemblance to real life persons and organizations is purely coincidental.

And what is the Truth?

That's what you'll find out inside! Come in and find the power of Belonging.

At least tell me a bit of the Truth!



And that is?

Is it Cthulhu Patrick

Patrick be honest with us

You're going to have to go inside if you want to learn more!

For some reason the image of a giant flytrap keeps appearing in my head. Weird.

So who can join?

Why anyone, of course! It wouldn't be very universal if we left anyone out, would it? Elves are especially welcome, sister!

I'm guessing whichever race you happen to be is always the one that's "especially welcome".

Tell me about Lynne Telestrian.

Happily! Mother Lynne is our chapter's most dynamic spokesperson. She is truly an inspiration to us all.

Do you know Jessica Watts?

Of course! Grandmother Jessica is the leader of this chapter of the Universal Brotherhood.

Grandma Watts, is it?

That's all for now.

Great! Come in and find the power of Belonging.

Well, we've come this far. No turning back now. Let's open this door and

Oh, sister - I forgot to mention that everyone must enter the Universal Brotherhood alone.

I don't want to be alone.



In order to become part of a larger family, we must first know ourselves. You need to hear our message in solitude so that your mind can be clear from distraction and the shackles of this heartbreakingly oppressive world.



I understand.

Fortunately nobody ever acknowledges our trusty "therapy" drones, so as long as things don't get too heated up we can probably hold our own until we find a way to regroup.



Deep breaths.






(Just like the safe house music, the Universal Brotherhood theme doesn't appear on the official soundtrack.)




Hoo boy, here we go. Actually, despite all my badmouthing about the Brotherhood itself, this part is pretty cool. Much like back in the Royale Apartments we're presented with a variety of different ways to proceed, and I personally think that's where these games are at their best. That said this also feels like one of the more unpolished parts of the game due to a variety of minor issues in the mechanics and dialogue.



But let's not get ahead of ourselves. We should probably start by checking in with the receptionist who seems to be having a chat with someone.



Sounds like the place is using a keycard system. And members can program their own keycards if their old one is ruined? Maybe we can get in on that somehow.



[Sister Sally smiles.] Of course. Truth makes us one.

They have a lame catchphrase and everything. The Monica woman walks off to the northeast.

[The young lady turns back to you and smiles.]

I'm sorry about that. How can I help you today?

I'm new here. What is the Universal Brotherhood?

The Universal Brotherhood is a community that welcomes all forms of meta-humanity with the mission of making the world a better place by helping individuals to become so much more than they currently are. This is our Seattle Chapter. There are more popping up every day!

Lots of fancy-sounding claims but we still don't know what any of it actually means in practice. But then it's not like we're here to discover spiritual enlightenment or whatever anyway.

Is Jessica Watts here?

I'm sorry, I don't know. I only see Grandmother Jessica at special ceremonies and even then, only at a distance. You might ask Mother Lynne - Lynne Telestrian - if you can catch her in the Auditorium.

Lynne Telestrian's here?

I believe so! I think she arrived at the end of Father Willy's talk, so you might still find her in the auditorium.

Father Willy, huh. Somebody's parents were jerks.

Why is Jessica Watts called Grandmother Jessica, anyway?



Sounds... incestuous.

Can I have a blank keycard?

If we can get our hands on one and damage it, maybe...

[She looks at you, perplexed.] I don't know why you would need one. They are only used to replace the cards of Brothers and Sisters who have damaged theirs.

Drat. She has a pile of blank keycards on a box next to the desk, but she stops us if we try to grab one. We need to get her someplace else for a moment.

Did you know that there is a Maria Mercurial concert going on outside?

[Her eyes light up.] I know - isn't it exciting! I am such a big fan of hers. The first time I heard "Who Weeps for the Children?" I melted inside.

I heard that she's a Universal Brotherhood member.

[She swoons.] I didn't know that! Oh my! But it doesn't surprise me at all! She's so deep and soulful. And there are lots of media stars who are joining the Brotherhood these days. We're everywhere!

Don't tell anyone, but she's signing autographs outside right now.



Who knew, celebrities do have their uses sometimes.



Nobody'll miss one blank card I'm sure.



Great, now we just need to find a terminal. Sister Monica walked off to the northeast with her card, so might as well try that way first.



One can safely assume that's the office door there. Let's see if we can get any useful info out of this woman first.



I'm a lost sheep who's looking for my flock.

You've come to the right place. Tell me something about yourself so that I can pair you with the right counselor.

I've lived in the shadows - so give me someone who understands the life of a runner.



Alright. In the meantime I would really like to talk to Jessica Watts. Can you direct me to her?

I'm sorry but Grandmother Jessica is in the Inner Sanctum and cannot be disturbed.

So not only do they have an "inner circle" but an "Inner Sanctum" as well? All we're missing now is creepy hoods and a sacrificial chamber.

Inner Sanctum? Can you give me a better sense of the different areas of the Brotherhood?

Sure. You are currently in the public area, behind it is what we call The Home which is where new Brothers and Sisters live. Beyond that is Inner Sanctum which only Mothers and Fathers and of course Grandmother Jessica can go.

Seems like we're gonna have to find a way into this Inner Sanctum. Of course at the moment we don't even seem to have access into The Home, but one step at a time.

Is Lynne Telestrian available?

Mother Lynne left the building about 15 minutes ago.

Damn. Of course Jessica's our primary target so we'll take what we can get I guess.

Thanks, that's all the questions I had.

I am so glad I could help! By just walking through these doors you have taken the first steps along a path that will change you forever.

Maybe, whether or not it's a change for the better is a different matter.



As we look around the room we don't spot anything useful, only overhearing some chatter. It's not hard to guess where these peoples' "meaningless" possessions likely end up.



As for the office, it doesn't look like we'll be able to just waltz in there. Hopefully our famous powers of persuasion will work on the guy watching the door.

I rejoice to be with you. I am Brother Christopher, how may I help you?

Is this the office door?

Yes, but it is off limits to the public.

Luckily, we've come prepared!

I have a blank keycard.



no wait hold on I think we missed a step somewhere

Luckily the receptionist has seemingly gotten herself detained by the concert security and hasn't returned, so we grab a new blank card from the front desk.



The northeast room seems to be a dead end for us at the moment, so we look around the main hall some more. Towards the back we find another Sister and another door barring our way further.

Hello. I'm Sister Wilma, what can I help you with?

I have some questions.

That's why we're here! What are your questions?

Do you like it here?

I love it being part of the Universal Brotherhood. Belonging helps everyone. We have a free soup kitchen that feeds hundreds of people every day, educational talks in our auditorium, and a counseling center to help prospective members with deep one-on-one therapy.

Is there a computer terminal here I could use?

No, we believe it is important to remove mundane distractions from our daily life so we can focus on the Truth. Our only computers are in the office, and that's off-limits to the prospective members.

Bah, there goes the option of hacking the doors open. We also casually ask her about the counseling center and the Inner Sanctum but learn nothing new, so we thank her for her time and try the southwest doorway next.



This seems to be the auditorium. Sure enough Lynne isn't anywhere in sight, but a Brother greets us at the entrance.

I'm sorry but today's seminar is over. Father Willy is just answering a few questions before he leaves.

Who is Father Willy?

He is truly an inspiration. After years of living in the shadows he found the light about three years ago and now is a beacon for us to follow here at the Universal Brotherhood.

Yeah, an inspiration to us all. Does he pull some weight around here?

All the Brothers and Sisters report to him, if that's what you mean.

What did he talk about?



An outwardly altruistic but clearly shady religious cult preaching about unity? Great, and we left our pulse grenades in our other pants.



Father Willy is standing prominently in front of the stage.



For the longest time I thought this guy had a lazy eye, but now I realize it's a yellow iris.

The shadows? I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about.

Please. I lived in the shadows for many years until I came into the light and fellowship of the Universal Brotherhood. I see on you the chains of guilt and sorrow, built link upon link by the crimes you commit in the name of nuyen.

Some say the local electrician is still haunted by the day Willy came into the light.

Nuyen might wound my soul but it fills my stomach.

Yes, that is what I told myself for years, until the weight of my chains brought me to the pit of despair. But the Universal Brotherhood saved me! It can save you too, my friend.

We're not friends.

We are more than friends here at the Universal Brotherhood. We are family. That is an unbreakable bond. Join us and find the power of Belonging.

I don't really do the whole belonging thing either.



There is, actually. I'm looking for Jessica Watts.

May I ask what business you have with Grandmother Jessica? She is very busy.

I'm looking to solve her brother's murder.

The best kind of deceptions are the ones where you can just say the honest truth.



I'd like to speak with Lynne Telestrian.

Many are attracted to the bright light that is Lynne Telestrian, but she cannot see everyone. What business do you have with her?

She's going to help me come out of the shadows and into the light.

Mother Lynne is a beacon that helps many come into the light of the Universal Brotherhood. Unfortunately, she left the building about fifteen minutes ago. One of our counselors could help you to join our family, so you should seek their council instead. Will that be all, my child?

Yeah. Thank you for your time, Father.


None of that helps us much, we've been here a while already but made very little practical progress so far.



The doorway in the northwest corner of the auditorium leads to the cafeteria. We had best find something of use here because this is the last room we have access to.



It looks like the maintenance staff has left their equipment out. There are some miscellaneous tools we have no use for, but there's also a couple of cans which are a touch more interesting.



It's like they say, you can never have too much kerosene unless you're burning to death.



We probably won't need to bring paint solvent with us, but it might be strong enough to damage thin plastic. Such as an ID card or something. Worth a shot at least.





Now we might be getting somewhere.



Looking around the cafeteria are a bit more, we spot a stove.



As the description hints at, it's possible to melt the blank card here as well. Alternatively we could start a fire, which in fact is the first method we could use to get deeper into the building.

We're not actually going to do it for a couple of reasons, but for the sake of showing it off:





I think kerosene fires tend to be bigger than that, but maybe it was a real small can.



An angry woman rushes out from the kitchen to put it out, conveniently leaving the door open. While this is the simplest and fastest method to gain access to the restricted area, it'd also leave us the least prepared (we have no keycards or anything after all) and we'd miss out on some minor dialogue later on.



Another method is to return to Christopher in order to make use of our melted keycard scam.

Sister Sally at the front desk sent me to you.

And why did she send you to me?

She said to talk to you about getting access to the office.

Who are you, and why do you need to get into the office?

I'm Amazon and my keycard is ruined. Look.

Wow, what happened to this?

It melted in the clothes dryer.

You'd be surprised how many times I've heard that one. Why are you out of uniform, though?

I was mugged while recruiting in the Barrens.



Christopher will fit right in with Lone Star if we end up having to tear this place to the ground.



Computer terminals, what a comforting sight. The office is empty, so Sister Monica must've finisher her business here already.



Regardless of how, when and where we enter, Coyote will contact us as soon as we set foot in any of the restricted areas.

Good. I found a way into the off-limits area of the Brotherhood. Jessica's somewhere in here. You find another way into this place?

Yep. We went down an alley and found a side door near the back. I'll send the coordinates so you can find it.

Can't you open it yourself?

Negative. It only opens from the inside.

Okay. Stay there, I want to have a look around. When I'm ready, I'll come open the door and let you in.

Null sweat. Just open the door when you're ready.

This door is actually in the kitchen, but we'll get to that later. Let's look around the office a bit first.







So the people here are allowed to send and be sent letters but they never reach their destinations, giving both the members and their loved ones the image that they've been abandoned by the other?

Wow, that's messed up. The Brotherhood has always seemed off, but we're starting to see some actual evidence that things really aren't quite right here.



We grab a new blank card from a box on the floor to replace our melted one and take a look at the computer terminal in the corner.



So, there's a whole thing here where you have to put together the info required to print a proper card from various terminals and such here in the office. You can bypass the process using Decking, with 4 you can print a Home Access Keycard and with 6 an Inner Sanctum Access Keycard.

The thing is, it's kind of a pain in the neck to do the normal way and we don't actually have Decking 6 because we've been focusing on our drones. So we're not actually going to bother with any of this, we just came here to show off the office itself.



Instead we're gonna hoof it back to the cafeteria and strike up a conversation with the janitor hanging around. He probably isn't a Brotherhood member, so dealing with him should be easier than the rest of these weirdos.

What do you want?

I need a little information. I'm willing to pay for it.

Ok, as long as I don't lose my job or anything. How much you talking about?

Don't know yet, let's talk and then I'll pay you what it's worth.

Oh yeah, like my grandpa used to say, "the check is in the mail". Don't think so.

Your grandpa is dead, and so is the mail.

Don't talk smack about my Gramps. Put some money upfront or no deal.

How about 100 nuyen now and another 100 if I like what you say?

This is a Charisma check of 4, without it we'd have to pay 100 now and 200 after. Weirdly enough both dialogue options are completely identical except for the amount, must be a tone of voice thing or something.

I'm not entirely sure if we ever even end up paying the second sum, so the choice might be literally irrelevant anyway.



Ok, what do you want to know?

What areas do you have access to?

I only have access to the public space which we are in now; the storage room, locker room, and the office.

We've been to the office already, but both storage and locker rooms have a tendency of having juicy stuff in 'em. And we're not just talking sweaty socks here.

And what do you know about the areas you don't have access to?

The Brothers and Sisters live in what's called "The Home" which I've heard has the kitchen and dorm rooms. From there I've been told there is a ton of security protecting what the freaks call the Inner Sanctum, but I've never seen any of that stuff.

What will your keycard cost me?

There is no way I'm giving you my card for you to cause trouble with. That sort of thing would come back to haunt me.

Unsurprisingly the janitor seems like the smartest man in this place.

Where can I get a different keycard?

Sometimes staff leave keycards and uniforms in the locker room. Tell you what, for 300 nuyen I could let you into the store room which connects to the locker room, and you could look around.

Too rich for a fishing expedition. How about 150?



Instead of asking about a different keycard we could've directly offered him 500 for his own, which leads to him making this same deal except for 500 nuyen instead of 300 and which we could've then bargained down to 250 instead of 150.

Thanks, that's all I needed.



Storerooms are the best rooms, you never leave them empty-handed.





These two might be related to each other, but we don't have much use for either. You know something one could always use more of though?

You guessed it, lard.





This definitely goes into the "pick it up just because you can" -category best known from adventure games.

There's something with a more obvious use here as well though.





Hollywood chloroform, the favorite of fictional assassins and secret agents worldwide.



Moving on to the locker room, most of the lockers are locked but in one of them we find an ID card belonging to a dwarven janitor named Edward Sharpel.



Even the item descriptions here have more typos than usual. Of course we've already established that the office holds nothing of value for us, so we don't actually need this for anything. Still, it provides another method to get past Brother Christopher without having to fake a damaged keycard if one does want to take that route.

Each of the three open lockers hold janitor uniforms fitting different races. One of them also contains a stack of neatly clipped newspaper articles.



Wonder who collected these. We already know those ties were indeed cut, but it sure wasn't by their own hand. In the same locker we find janitor coveralls which fit an elf or a human.



Hey, if it works for Johnny Clean it'll work for us.



They're a little tight, but the price was right!

As I mentioned, with this and the keycard we could just walk past Brother Christopher and into the office if we wanted to. We don't, but we do have another reason to play dress-up.



The locker room connects to the auditorium where Willy's still hanging out.

Hello again, my friend. How may I help you along the path to Truth?

Father, I just discovered a pressing maintenance issue.

Sorry did we forget to mention that we're doing janitor work on the side last time? Shadowrunning doesn't always pay the bills, you know how it goes.

Yes? What is it?

It's something that needs the attention of a senior leader. I would rather not discuss it here.

Ah, very well. I am one of the Elders here. I can help with that. Where is the problem?

It's in the storage room. I'll meet you there.



You'd think an ex-runner would've immediately seen through this hilariously obvious scheme, but spending three years in this place would probably rot anyone's brain.

What's the issue? I don't see anything.

Hmmm. It was here a moment ago.

What was here a moment ago?

Some chloroform seems to have vanished and

Oh, nope, there it is, right in front of your face. False alarm.



As Willy falls limp, we promptly relieve him of his possessions which include his clothes and a pair of keycards.



They're a bit too large, but he didn't charge!





With this, we not only have the best disguise and access to everywhere on this floor, but we even got hold of a mysterious private keycard not available by any other means.



Now we finally pay a visit to the kitchen, and since we didn't end up burning the kerosene, the cook is still here. Otherwise she'd be gone by now.



If you talk to her as a janitor (possible if you print a card in the office while disguised as one and come here from the dormitory side) she complains about dirty ovens instead. Otherwise the dialogue is the same, but it's a nice detail.

I'm new here, so tell me about your kitchen.

The most important thing is DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING! Especially the damn alley door or the whole facility goes into lockdown mode.

She's not kidding, the moment we let our team in every door slams shut no matter what keycards we hold. Except for the door leading to the Inner Sanctum which instead opens up even if it was previously closed.

Convenient, that.

Where do the arched doors go to?

One goes to the cafeteria and other to the Home area and the heavily guarded door to the Inner Sanctum.

Thanks, that's all the questions I had.

I've got a break until dinner so I'm going out for a beer. See ya around.

You can actually use the chloroform on the cook if you didn't use it on Willy. Doing so serves no practical purpose though, as she automatically leaves after talking to her and even if you let your team in first, she just freaks out and pleads you to leave her out of whatever it is you're doing.

Anyway, let's look around a bit.



Looking around was a terrible plan



Hope this isn't related to that last thing.



That's just a standard student fridge though.



This vending machine seems to be hiding something behind it.



We try to push it but lack the strength (5) to move it. Luckily we just happened to pick a tub of lard for no particular reason, and a little bit of greasing the ground later...





Now why would someone put a door behind a vending machine? We're not going to find out yet, because the game straight-up prevents us from interacting with it until we pick up our team which we won't do yet because it locks the doors. Instead we leave the kitchen for now and head through the northeast doorway.



The dorms area of The Home is the last one we haven't been to on this floor. There are four rooms in total, two at each end. Let's start from the room north from us.



Some boxes here... there's a routing slip which reads "Transfer for sale in thrift shops".



Shane? Wasn't that the name of Cherry Bomb's ex who was pestering her about the Brotherhood way back when? Come to think of it, that's when we first heard about this organization, though it seemed unrelated to our investigation at the time.

Let's see what's inside this box.



Seems like the same guy alright. So he couldn't "accept the Truth" and now they're selling off his belongings? Just what the heck is going on in this place?



Shane seemed like kind of a creep, but if he stopped buying what these guys were selling and they locked him up somewhere, he might have some insider info he's willing to part with in exchange for being freed. Of course that's assuming they didn't just off him.

There's also a Brother's uniform in the locker. These rooms are an another source for a Brotherhood uniform if you didn't jack Willy's. The opposite room has a Sister's uniform which would fit us but holds nothing else of interest.



Between the rooms is the Inner Sanctum entrance, watched by a pair of scary-looking turrets. If you get close to them without carrying both an Inner Sanctum keycard a uniform, you end up in a fight against them and two security guards. For us it'd be an extremely brief fight as they can deal enough damage to kill Amazon in a single turn.



Luckily we have both, so we can approach safely. The "access granted" message is a garbled mess though, presumably since we're flagged as both a Sister and a Mother.



Unlike with the secret door, nothing's stopping us from dumping our party in the alleyway and heading on alone here. Also while both the main and secret entrances lead to the next area, our starting point there changes depending on which one we use.

We'll obviously be taking the other one. It must be secret for a reason, right?



Besides we still have two more rooms to look through. The northeast door connects to the office, so we can ignore that one.



Aside from another uniform, the only thing of interest in the northern room is in this bunk.



One of the letters we saw in the office wastebasket was from Charles' parents, wasn't it? And they've been telling him...

Man, we've seen a lot of shitty things and people so far, but this somehow manages to feel especially reprehensible.



One last room to go. The southern ones seem to be for Sisters and the northern ones for Brothers. For some reason this particular bunk is all taped up.



Another weird bug, investigating this bunk shows Amazon's portrait and name as if we were talking to her.

Let's take a look at these cards.



First the home-made one, which reads "Missing you already!":



I get the sense that many who "advance" to the Inner Sanctum never come back again. We saw Monica earlier, so she's still alright at least.

The professionally-printed card reads "Congratulations!":



As the second card hints at, the locker here contains an Inner Sanctum keycard if you don't have one yet. It's locked, but can be picked with 5 Intelligence or simply forced open without consequence.



It's been a long update, but now we've finally done and seen just about everything. It's time to let our team in and get to the bottom of this business, figuratively and literally.





Boy is it good to see you guys, this place makes you feel like you're stranded on a different planet after a while.



With everyone here, we can now properly interact with the secret door. On top of being hidden it's also locked, and the only keycard that opens it is Father Willy's. The other alternative is to hack it open with Decking 5 which we could've also done.



And for some reason we get another warning about letting our party in first even though you can't even see this message if you haven't done so already. Silly game.

Our last basement trip somehow managed to end up even worse than expected, and the odds of history not repeating itself on that front are looking pretty slim.