Part 29: Intermission 8. The MBA and stories from the past.
Intermission 8.The MBA and stories from the past.
The following will be a good deal of text with some of my own thoughts on the content. So I won't blame you for skipping this.
It still is a neat thing, as this will give some more context on the world before the catastrophe and what lead to the whole event. While the majority of this game's writing is shallow and ham-fisted, they at least tried to make a decent job with the universe/backstory.
Let's start with a look at the exhibits of the MBA.
I find these to be decently funny and they crammed a lot of references in there.
What's really interesting about this is the existence of the corpse-museum itself though. It is like a hardcore version of Madame Tussauds. The fact that selling your corpse to a museum is normal, even popular, does tell you something about that society. Also this is a reference to "Body worlds" and Gunther von Hagens. He caused quite the ruckus in his time but would have been a star in this universe.
There is actually a small follow-up quest in the MBA. Before Rupert will leave, he wants you to collect all of his historical documents and audio logs. But I broke that quest by picking up the items before talking with him about it.
Andrew will still move in though, and just acts like the old man isn't there.
Let's start with the audio logs. These are fully voiced by whatever person made them. Seagull will only read out the intros.
:"January 22, 2062 CSTV News, 8p.m." 
This is the first time that the NASA project has been clearly brought up in the game. The other info comes from the handbook. Also we learn that sects seem to be popular again. Those bring in their own load of possible themes and are often a product of their times.
:"Audio confession by Rich Michols, on 14.12.2062" 
Here we have a small contradiction. The handbook said that all the members of the sect died during the counterattack on the NASA base. But one could argue that the government wouldn't have been keen on letting out news about survivors or their motives/ideology. So let's take a look at the motive with what sketchy info we have.
The main theme behind this is the loss of humanity. The translation left it out, but when Rich says "Everything about her was real", he also says something about being disgusted by human clones. That they are not "real" people/humans. Cloning is a normal thing in this universe, among other future tech. I understand it in such a way, that this society became detached and numb. Wrapped in technology, entertainment and consumerism. The fact that he mentions belonging to a family also suggests that people became distant from one another without a sense for community or a place to belong.
I might be reading too much into this, but it does make sense in a cyberpunk way.
:"Docutainment soap: "Hell on Earth", Lima-TV - 10.12.2062" 
Nothing much to say about this. Obviously the government wanted to hide how fucked they were and prevent a panic. But on the other hand it can also be another sign of the general apathy, described in the handbook. In the sense that there is no real danger because we can just fix everything. Also this game was made when global warming was still a fresh issue for everybody. Just to put a perspective on the environmental theme.
On to the written documents.
:"Diary entry from Harold Bane, Colorado. 11 years and eight months after the Catastrophe:" 
:"Patricia Wilson, 32, approximately 10 years after the Catastrophe:" 
Despite this being the longest story, it's mostly fluff. But there are some interesting angles in it. Mainly the technology. A bodyphone? I wouldn't want that cobbled into my body.
I assume that this is another hint at loosing touch with your body/humanity. Her mentioning cooking is also of note. I wouldn't want to live in a world where MRE's are normal food. Good one for Max though, he made his cut.
:"Vancouver Sun: February 11, 2061:" 
Another mention of the sect. This loops back to the confession and the views about clones and the state of humanity. Also I would like to know why they had such a big spike in members, one year prior to the NASA project.
And that's it. It's a bit of a waste that they were so selective with bringing up the backstory. I still think that the ground floor is the strongest part of the writing in this game. I've said it before, but I really like that they came up with a scientific/realistic reason for everything going to hell and then created roots for this reason. Obviously the creators were influenced by the issues of their time but there are just way too much war/radiation/virus/zombie stories in this genre. I always enjoy when people use their noggin to create something instead of using the known themes.