Part 18: I am the cyborg. I am the walrus.

I am the cyborg. I am the walrus.

When we last left our heroine she had heroically hit a bunch of switches to turn off an evil and annoying AI.





I had a whole section on how Peerless would be a more interesting party member as an immortal AI than Tybir or Rhin, but rereading this he's so annoying that I'm glad we killed him.

: [Persuasion]: You look different from the other technology in the Lazaret. Tell me how you got down here.

: [Success] "Of course I look different!" the construct snaps. "My glorious existence predates this ramshackle habitat by eons!"





: And you killed them the moment you got inside?

It's not clear from the screenshot but there are dead crow dudes everywhere in this room.

: "Of course not," it snorts. "That would have been foolish. I killed them later."

: A yellow light glows on the construct's surface. "Now stop asking questions and listen."



Naturally, because this is Dungeons and Dragons, the immortal alien AI is just a shitty pop Cthulhu knockoff that dreams of conquest because it wants power for...reasons.



: I met another drone who claimed to be Peerless.



You know, maybe Callistege would have something to say here, as she literally lives with all her infinite selves. Maybe a discussion of the real? No? Too esoteric for our very deep philosophical game?

: The other drones thought they were Peerless too. Are you sure you're not just another copy?



: I'm pretty sure you're just another copy of the real Peerless.



You know what else would be worth discussing? The Changing God and his constant body-hopping. Maybe do a Ship of Thesus quest instead of a Trolley Problem quest. Am I asking for too much here? Maybe we could negotiate with Peerless instead of just mercilessly killing it for some asshole lady.

: [Lore: Machinery, Quick Fingers] Disable the damaged drone.



Anyway, we loot the shit out of the place, getting some vendor trash including this:




I'm not actually invested in this mystery because this is a videogame and this stupid thing sells for 120 futurebux.

Anyway, once we get back to the top level Qorro accosts us. What, you thought we were getting out of this without a trolley problem?



This is going to be really pathetic, isn't it?



I at least appreciate your willingness to avoid Numenera combat on our behalf.



That's what you're going with. For the record, the secret is that some guy is actually a spy for the foreign invaders. I literally do not care.

: You seem awfully concerned about Salimeri's opinion.

I legitimately cannot tell if they're in an abusive romantic relationship and he's jealous or what his deal is.



Dude, she called you worthless trash and said you had potential but refused to teach you. I don't know why you're so dedicated to her.

: But not impossible. Tell the truth, Qorro. Why do you care about her opinion so much?



Really? Fuck you. You want to get money for the work we did bypassing murderous robots. Maybe you could get a real job with a non-abusive boss. I think this is supposed to be what does one man's livelihood matter, but to be honest I don't care.

: You don't deserve credit for the work done here today.



The indigo tide represents "justice, compromise, and the greater good". I have no idea how this is in anyway a compromise - and holy shit, justice and compromise do not go together!

Expect a forthcoming bonus update on the tides.




Quest complete! Incidentally, when I did this quest on my practice playthrough, I talked to the drone and killed it before doing the last terminal. This made it impossible to complete and Qorro never showed up.



These rings let two characters share stat healing and buffs. It seems like it might be broken with the right combo, but I have no idea honestly.

: By the way, I managed to save a few of the drones in the Lazaret from Peerless.

You might ask "how does Salimeri know about Peerless, seeing as Peerless locked her out before they met". No context is ever provided, and I don't care.



My guess is you were supposed to go back and talk to her. Anyway, this is half of a ring. We won't see the other half until part 2, but I will spoil what it does now - +2 damage and 4 resistance. Really.

: I've solved your problem. Now I need help fixing the resonance chamber.



(She's talking about sex. They had sex.)





I guess we know about the living crystals? We knew about the rest.





: Thank you, Salimeri.

I'm sure that the resonance chamber is totally benign and the castoffs not knowing about it isn't a red flag.



Incidentally, "Adahn" is male if you are male as well.



: What do you do here, anyway?

: "I study the ruins and remnants of past worlds," she says. "When I have time, of course. These days, the Order spends more of its time helping the city than on its own research."



: "It's quite simple," Salimeri says with brittle humor. "They pay. That helps a great deal. Will you be staying with us for long this time?"



: Farewell.


We can examine Areph but we need the other half to do anything with it.



Incidentally, there are robo-fish in this fountain you can catch and sell for money. Thank you, Rhin.



Anyway, the Last Castoff finally hits Tier 2, which gives us some new abilities. Specifically, we get an aura that hands out skill and defense buffs from our focus, 5% better buying and selling prices, and we get to choose a new ability.



Finally! I also put another point in Persuasion.

Let's go stick it to that Stichus.





EAT IT!





: You've survived. How are you, now that you have returned to your native habitat?



: What are you eating down here?



: Is there anything down here I should know about?






Behind him there's a boulder we can move for piddly XP. The stichus was crushed while digging, yadda yadda, moving on.



: The stichus escaped. Other sticha dug a tunnel from below to free it.

As you probably guessed, if you tell him where it is the mob goes off to lynch it. If you fail the persuasion check I believe you have to turn in the stichus. You get a decent caster item at least.



Yeah, whatever, shut up.



There is a long cutscene of the mob dispersing screaming about how they wanted revenge. All I hear is trolley whistles.



I celebrate by buying every single upgrade at the cyborg place, because why not? We have the money.



With that another update comes to a close. I need to check what quests we have left, but we're getting very close to just grabbing Matkina and leaving on our wacky adventures.