Part 28: Duty Above All

Part 28 - Duty Above All










It's not looking like a solid breakfast and a warm shower are in the cards for this particular morning either.



You know he's lying because everyone else has repeatedly made it clear that we look like tired trash, and recent events can't have improved that much.

You better have a good reason for locking me in here overnight.

Given Mr. Silverstar's paranoia about security, we could not get into his office in a straightforward manner last night. However, thanks to the mayhem created by you and your shadowrunners, a situation ripe for exploitation now exists.

Ripe for exploitation, eh?



On the same day, Building Maintenance reported installing the artwork in his office at the same time as a piece of equipment purchased from Fuchi Corp. Although they attempted to obfuscate its use, I believe it is the safe.

I don't really do safes. But I bet you have a plan.

Wouldn't necessarily bet on it being a good plan though.

Indeed! Mr. Silverstar is personally conducting the investigation into last night's break-in. He is interviewing personnel who may have pertinent information. You need to be one of the personnel he interviews - in his office! Once you are inside, you will need him to leave so that you can find a way to get the sample.

So I tell him I have evidence so I can get inside his office for an interview.

Close! You will plant evidence of your own creation. There are three matrix emergency power junctions on this level. If we add some commlink chips to them, it will make last night's run appear to be preparation for a larger run. It will bring the attention of Telestrian security.

I can handle it. But I'll need a way to get around the building without attracting attention.



This plan assumes some immense gaps in the security procedures of this building in addition to remarkable incompetence from its personnel, so it's clear Samedi has at the very least done his research.



I like that our new mission objectives include "don't fuck things up". It is in fact possible for us to blow our cover, but it takes some doing.





For now we grab the by now familiar janitor overalls and the commlink chips from the locker and head on out.



Upon exiting the locker room, wherever it was, we once again find ourselves in front of the elevators on the first floor. It's a little messier than last time though.

Before we get to do anything, an elf in a suit walks up to and addresses us. Let's see if we can get through at least one conversation before the bodies start piling up again.



Damn, guy's getting roasted by his own descriptive text before he even gets to open his mouth.



Cleaning up other people's messes is what I do.

The drones, standard janitor equipment of course, are for especially hard-to-remove cases.

You'll have your hands full. There was some sort of break-in last night! Some people were... um... just get things cleaned up on this floor. And listen - people are going to be on edge today. So try to stay invisible and don't get into any trouble. Otherwise, they're going to call me, and I'm going to have to reprimand you and put a note in your file.

Sounds good! We'll get to those orientation trids another day.

I hope they get whoever did this. Only a fool would attack a Telestrian Corporate office and think they can get away with it! Anyway, start heading from room to room and clean what needs cleaning. Good luck, and welcome to Telestrian.



The first panel we're looking for is in the computer room to the northeast, the same one we previously used to hack the elevators. Looks like it's occupied though, and we can't really afford any eyewitnesses.



So, there's actually a sort of ... I guess you could call it a dialogue puzzle here. All three power junctions we're looking for are watched over by someone, and we need to get them to leave so that we can plant the commlink chips. In each conversation with the person present we're usually given three dialogue choices; One "correct" choice, one "incorrect" choice and one Charisma check which solves the situation.

Each time we pick a "correct" dialogue choice, the Charisma requirement decreases until it's gone completely, like so:

So ka. I get it. You never get the straight dope around here.

[He lets out a big sigh while shaking his head in agreement.]

I get it.



The Charisma requirement has dropped from 4 to 2. However each time we pick the "incorrect" choice, the requirement goes up instead:

We're all responsible for what happens at this company.



Oops, the requirement has now jumped up to 6 which is out of our reach. If at this point we again pick the "incorrect" choice...

And your responsibility is to stop badmouthing our execs. I bet they might be interested in hearing some of the garbage you've been spewing.



...he'll get pissy and run off to complain to our supervisor Steve who will then chew us out. If this happens with all three people watching the power junctions, it's game over due to him taking our badge and then realizing we're not an actual janitor. That said it's usually incredibly obvious which choice is the good one and which one's the bad one, and failing all three conversations by accident is so unlikely that I honestly can't imagine anyone who has played this game has ever managed to do so.

Anyway, let's go back one choice and pick the right one.

Sorry! They've forced a double shift on me and told me to be happy with the overtime.

[He rolls his eyes.] Typical. It's gonna be a hell of a morning with all this investigation drek going on.

At this point the choices are reduced to a Charisma check of 1 and a "correct" choice, making it impossible to fail the conversation.

Do you think you could duck out for a smoke or something? It would be easier if I didn't have to clean around you.

Oh sorry. Yeah, no problem. Just another day in paradise, right?



The elf walks off never to be seen again, and we get to work on the defenseless power junction.



No checks or anything required here. We get 2 karma for each chip we plant, adding to the sizeable pile we've already accumulated since entering this place.



We're not quite done in this room yet as this busted-looking LAN rack, which somehow got riddled with bullet holes even though no fighting of any kind took place in this room, has something of interest for us.





We have absolutely no reason to grab this stuff beyond the fact that we can do so, but it's not like that's a first.



Our next target is in the small conference room to the southwest, the one our drones briefly visited using air vents. Two security personnel are staring into one of those vents and shaking their heads.





It's good to see Officer Kuprik getting new work so soon after presumably and justifiably getting fired from Lone Star.

Just get in there and take another look. I have got to go upstairs and report.



After the armored guard is out of sight, we chat up the miffed-looking man.



From what I can tell, it looks like our guys got hit pretty hard.

[He shakes his head.] Yeah, they chewed through those guys pretty good. Must've been pros.

Probably good-looking too.

Look, I know it's "Duty Before All" around here but I just want to get things cleaned up.

Despite sounding a bit forceful, this is actually the "correct" choice here.

[He lets out a sigh.] Duty ABOVE All. It's Mr. Silverstar's favorite. I can't believe anyone can spout Telestrian Corporate Values when a bunch of our guys were geeked a few hours ago.

If there's nothing in the vent, let's just get this over with. Unless you really want to go back in there.

Not really. There's just as much nothing in there as the last time I checked.

Luckily both of our drones can fly or else there might've been some conspicuously bloody track marks up in there.

Wiz. I'd like to get this room clean and move on.




In case you're curious, here's how you don't handle things here:





That's two out of three.



Our third and last target is in the larger room to the southeast where we confronted a loud mage and his three buddies. An employee appears to be having an argument of some kind with one of the guards.





Nonetheless, our records show this terminal was left unsecured in direct contravention of Telestrian corporate policy. You failed in your duty.

Funnily enough we didn't actually get anything useful out of this guy's terminal. It was the slip of paper with the door code under his keyboard which allowed us to proceed further in. Which when you think about it was probably an even bigger security issue.

I know it's "duty above all" for you security types but I am the victim here, I swear.

Perhaps when Mr. Silverstar gets his next promotion that will become a value for you data pushers as well. Right now it seems your value is "clock out early and ignore my responsibilities". Don't go anywhere, I need to make my report to Erik.



Perhaps we can help this poor chap out, and maybe get him to temporarily relocate somewhere else in the process.



Looks like you're in some real trouble, chummer.

Buzz. Unless you can clean up a shattered career, leave me alone.

I came across some items that might help you out.

[He shakes his head.] I doubt it. You know the guy who said, "Life isn't fair"? He was talking about me.

Oh boo-hoo.

Heh, me too. I used to be in Accounting a few floors up. A few too many drinks at the Christmas party and look at me now.

I mean I didn't want this to happen! I mean, hell! Who would?

You're totally right.

Most of the time, I don't know if the cred I earn is worth it. But, it's better than being one of those SINless scum - like the ones who did this!

Security's bullying you, my friend. But I could make it look like your terminal was tampered with and no one would be the wiser.



It's a good thing we picked up some random electronic junk earlier.



This'll probably deceive absolutely nobody, but we'll be long gone before that becomes an issue. For us.

Thanks so much, I won't forget this when your review comes up.

Hey no problem sir, just glad I could help, would you mind clearing out of here for a while? There is a lot to do.

You bet, just remember to keep this just between us.


Again, here's one way to muck things up:




With the third and final power junction all chipped up, it's time to proceed to the next part of the plan.



We could've talked to this guard watching the elevators earlier already, but he would've just told us to leave.

What can I do for you?

Hey, I found all these chips on some of the Matrix switch boxes. Is that important?



Mr. Silverstar wants to see you in his office immediately.



Things have gone unusually smoothly so far. Let's see if our luck holds out upstairs as well.







Silverstar's office is right around the corner, and this time the doors are wide open to us.



The man himself is waiting for us inside.



Well it's "Duty above all", right?



Uh, can you repeat that? Occasionally you come across dialogue which was very obviously written hastily and never double-checked, and Erik here is probably the worst case of that.

Alternatively he simply talks like a caffeinated chipmunk, which is definitely the funnier interpretation.

Thank you, sir.



Thankfully we're spared from witnessing any further butchery of innocent punctuation, as the head of security decides to leave us alone in his office together with the invaluable sample while he heads downstairs. Which raises the question, why did he ever invite us up here in the first place? Wasn't he supposed to interview us?

It definitely feels like this part was supposed to be more fleshed out, but for some reason or another ended up rushed.





There's no safe or sample in sight, but the five paintings on the walls can all be interacted with. Pushed, in fact. It's looking a lot like we have a bona fide puzzle on our hands!

There's also a liquor cabinet which we can look at but not interact with.



In any case, the descriptions of the paintings from left to right are as follows:


1. A small lighthouse in intense storm at night perched on a rocky outcropping. Its light stabs out into the darkness. The plaque reads "Vigilance".

2. A wild mountain landscape with clouds ringing lofty peaks. The plaque reads "Independence".

3. A photo-realistic painting of five massive harvesters in Telestrian colors in a staggered formation cutting a swath across a rippling field of wheat. The plaque reads "Unity".

4. A clock tower at a train station in downtown Portland in the Tir. The plaque reads "Efficiency".

5. A profile of three elves in Telestrian security uniforms looking upwards at a flag flying the Telestrian logo. The plaque reads "Duty".


We need to push three paintings in the correct order. Can you figure it out, dear reader?




So if you've been paying any kind of attention, you can probably tell what's going on here. The three paintings we need to push correspond to Silverstar's three corporate values, of which "Duty Above All" in particular has been repeated over and over and over again. Amongst his incoherent ramblings Silverstar also mentioned that the third value is "vigilance". What's left is the second one which is a little trickier than the other two, as I believe it was only mentioned once by the bald elven tech worker back in the computer room.

Of course since we're talking corporate values here it's not hard to guess that the answer is "efficiency". And guessing is a perfectly valid strategy here, because while there's a limit to how many times you can get things wrong before Silverstar comes back with security which leads to a game over, it's a pretty generous limit.



Pushing the paintings in the order Duty -> Efficiency -> Vigilance causes the nearby bookshelf to slide out of the way, revealing a secret room.



Cool painting. More importantly we finally reach the long-sought safe, which however turns out to be locked by a DNA scanner.

The answer for this conundrum can be found on the liquor cabinet we looked at earlier, from which we can now pick up the cigar.



We simply take this, put the moist end on the DNA scanner and voila!



Seriously though, this has to be the most garbage-ass lock system in existence. A rusty latch would've put up more of a resistance.

But in the end what matters is that we at last have our precious sample.



The executive elevator isn't the one we used to get here, but rather the one the group of four guards used to enter back when we were hacking the CEO's computer terminal. So that's where we're heading.



I don't believe there's any time limit here, but we don't have a reason to dawdle either. We get some complaints as we make our way to the CEO's office, but the complainers are smart enough not to try anything.



There's nothing new in the office itself, so we go straight through the next door...



...and reach the elevator to freedom. Against all odds everything has somehow gone according to plan. We're home free with the Aegis sample safely in our pocket.

Time to head back to the Union and figure out our plan of offense against those darn bugs.

















Um.



Aw, crud.

Good morning, Detective McKlusky. It's a fine day for police corruption, isn't it?

[The smirk broadens.] That's right, dummy, keep flapping your jaw. That sort of thing will be perfect for where you're going. Mr. Telestrian wants to meet you in person. He wants to chat about last night's fun an' games. You can come along quietly or you can meet him in a body bag.

Guess we now know the identity of the mystery person who's been pulling McKlusky's strings.

[He smiles wolfishly.]

Come on, drek-for-brains. Make the wrong choice.

We do not in fact have a choice here.

I'll opt for a stand-up conversation.



Goddamnit, we just can't catch a break it seems like. What have we done to deserve all this? Okay yeah there were all those crimes I guess but come on, we're long overdue for a turn for the better by now.

I suppose all we can hope for now is that Mr. Telestrian is in an understanding mood.