Part 41: Episode 7-4: Weapon Depot

Before I started this, I replayed the entire game on Hard difficulty. I did not, however, review the story scenes, since I figured I'd have more fun that way. I stand by this idea to some extent, but I've also overestimated my memory of events way too often without verifying. For example, my memory of the identity of the person behind Stigma was incomplete, and much easier to discover than I remembered. It's also given at the beginning of this episode, not 7-5. My hints were still good, but probably not the one's I should have given.

Anyway, that doesn't matter now. This episode is mostly about setting up the final conflict, so there's a lot of information from the game, and from myself. As such, I'll shut up for now and jump in.

Episode 7-4: Weapon Depot



Mount Parnassus is located in central Greece. It's located next to Delphi, which you may recall is the name of the GUILT-spreading cult from the other Trauma Center games. There's quite a bit of Greek mythology associated with the mountian, but I'll let you check that out for yourself.

Marshall: The syndicate was researching Stigma under their supervision. Their leader is a man named Master Vakhushti, who, according to our records, has resided in the United States under the name Ray Kerensky.

Valerie: Ray!? You've got to be kidding. He and Cynthia were seeing each other.


You win, but if you'd looked back way further, he was actually mentioned before that.

Marshall: This man, Vakhushti, is quite famous in the world of medicine. After obtaining a medical licence in North Carolina, he and a friend started a business venture, which quickly grew into a major manufacturer of precision instruments and implant devices. That company is Columba & Cornix, a subsidiary of the Humani corporation.

Markus: So Professor Kerensky is Master Vakhushti! He provided me with advice regarding Elena's transplant operation. That bastard…

Way back in 1-3, Markus namedropped "Professor Kerensky" once, as he'd sent detailed instructions with her liver pump. That was what I was driving at with my hints earlier. His company also manufactured the artificial blood that the first Soma patient had received.

Mendez: We've learned that an individual named Cynthia Kazajov has ties to Vakhushti.

Irene: She worked here at Caduceus for a while. She was directly involved with Stigma research.

Mendez: And Mr. Marshall… according to another report, Cynthia was a member of a secret research team for the US Army and Humani, correct?

Marshall: Yes, that's what I've been informed.

Mendez: How far has the research progressed?

Marshall: I can make no comment on that, except I've been informed that no research was conducted exploring military uses of Stigma.

Valerie: How many people was Cynthia spying on…?

Mendez: She had the trust of Kidman, Caduceus, and the US Army. We should assume that most, if not all, of the research is now in Parnassus's hands. I'm told that their level of activity has increased as of late. Dr. Stiles of Caduceus Japan, who was dispatched to Caucasus, will now give us the details. I'm sure you know, but he's the doctor responsible for eradicating GUILT.



You also probably know that Derek Stiles is the main character of UtK/SO as well as UtK2.

I imagine this scene was a little bit of a headache for the localization team, who had rewritten the original games such that Derek was an American. This game, actually taking place in America, features a totally different Caduceus in a different location, with different staff. This could have been ignored, but then Dr. Stiles shows up! If you were to ask them, they'd probably say "Well, he just transferred between games."

Derek: while I was there, I treated a number of patients who'd been infected with Stigma. Similarly, the US branch has dealt with a variety of cases, as detailed in their report. But the true problem is this organization called Parnassus, mentioned earlier. The local police are investigating the matter, with the assistance of the Russian Army.

Mendez: The US will be providing assistance as well, to crush Parnassus. We will be supplying both instruments and medicine, in addition to dispatching doctors from Caduceus.

Irene: I already volunteered you two. I hope you have no objections.

Markus: I'll go… and put an end to this.

Valerie: I'd like to know the truth. I was friends with Cynthia, after all.

Derek: This is Angie Thompson, she assists me with my operations. She accompanied me to Caucasus and helped me analyze Stigma at the scene.



Angie placid look here is somehow terrifying. Remember this is the nurse who told a teenager suffering from depression to kill herself.

Angie: But the Stigma are showing signs of change. Unfortunately, they're not evolving to our advantage. They're beginning to multiply without the existence of Culurium. If they're doing that, they're becoming much more infectious.

Markus: So, someone's still researching and refining them.

Derek: The nature of these infectious strains of Stigma changes as it spreads from host to host. However, there is a limit on the number of times a host can undergo this change. They're planning to utilize this unique trait to their advantage by spreading the Stigma over a limited period of time, and letting it die out naturally.

Valerie: So they're planning to tame the devil, huh? What a dangerous plan.

The script just lost me again.

Markus: It's completion is drawing near. We don't have much time to lose.

Derek: On orders from Caduceus, we're going to investigate where these weapons will be heading to. We'll leave Caucasus to you guys.

Angie: Director Quatro has more detailed research data. It should aid you in your investigation. These missions will be very dangerous, but I know we'll all see each other again.

Markus: There's so much I'd like to ask a master surgeon like yourself, but let's wait until this is over.

Derek: Yeah, then we'll talk about the future of medicine.





Markus: All right, Elena! Head to the back!

Valerie: How can they use this old castle as their base? Have they no respect for history?

That's the lamest complaint against them you could possibly make.

Elena: Nobody would ever guess that a terrible disease lurks inside.

Markus: I guess they were trying to impress their buyers. At any rate, storming this castle will be no easy task.

Elena: We have an emergency! The enemy's used a chemical weapon! A few officers have been hit! It appears to be a blister agent.

Blister agents are named for their propensity for causing chemical burns, which leads to blisters. They are absorbed easily through the skin, eyes, and nose, and can cause great pain and irritation there, as well as some life-threatening effects. Mustard Gas is an example of a blister agent.

Valerie: We need to treat them immediately! Elena, clean the patients and bring them into the operating tent.



Elena: We've received word that the analysis team is unable to determine which type of gas it is.

Markus: They don't know? Is it some kind of new agent?

Valerie: Wait. The patient's symptoms include those from existing poisonous gasses. It's like the effects of multiple types are appearing at once.

Markus: So, it's a compound of known agents.

Valerie: We do have antidotes for each of the different conditions. Let's treat each one as it arises. That's all we can do for now.

Elena: But the antidotes are powerful medicines on their own. We can't inject too much into the patient.

Markus: Let's use a sedative along with it. If we sedate the affected area first, we can minimize the amount of antidote we use.

Valerie: But we won't be able to see where the affected areas are when they're sedated.

Markus: Then it's up to us to remember it.

Elena: Understood. I'll prep the antidotes.

I'm not sure, but I get the feeling this plan isn't exactly medically accurate. Well, whatever.





OPERATION VIDEO

Viddler Backup



This one's pretty simple, although it can be a little tricky, as well. This inflammations appear in waves. They're colour-coded, and you have the antidotes matching each colour on the bottom, plus a sedative. You need to memorize the pattern of colours, then inject the sedative into the patient. The inflammations turn grey, and you need to inject them with the right antidote. This all needs to be done before they explode, which will deal untold amounts of damage.



The patterns get tougher as you go, but they never become too difficult. The colours tend to band together, making it much easier to recall which vial to use. Actually, my main problem in this operation is missing when going to change colours of antidote.



The Healing Touch is very useful for the later patterns, and almost necessary, given the small window of time that Hard difficulty affords you. I recommend using it just before you see the above pattern.



The whole thing is over quickly, but may take multiple tries, at least until you get the hang of it.



OPERATION END



You need a chain of 35 in addition to the No Miss bonus. The problem I have with missing the vials accounts for me losing those.





Valerie: So, she IS here. I don't know what happened to you, Cynthia, but there's no way I can forgive you for what you've done.

Next time: Whatever happened to Cynthia?